RBS v Yoyo.email, High Court
The Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy’s informal procedure to determine domain name ownership disputes should be respected, according to a ruling in the High Court. The Court did not have jurisdiction to hear and determine an appeal against the panel’s 2014 decision that Yoyo.email’s registration of domain names incorporating famous RBS brands had been in bad faith and that they should be transferred to RBS. While deciding that it did not have jurisdiction to overturn the UDRP ruling, the Court also ruled that Yoyo.email had been in the wrong for passing off. The mere registration of distinctive domain names amounts to a representation that the registrant is connected with the brand owner. This reinforces the position taken in the landmark case on cybersquatting in the BT v One in a Million case in 1999.