As I understand it, a word does not become classified as generic from frequency of use, but by what the word represents, specifically that a word may become generic if it represents a certain product or service.
The arbitrator claims in this case, that the respondent has a right to the domain because, not that it is generic, but that it is specific in it's other meanings.
Fernando Triana gives an interesting explanation of his decision, but in some matters, appears to be suspiciously naive. You almost begin to wonder if this is a case of someone from Europe getting a chance to give a decision against an American institution, and taking it.
If it is not, and he is sincere in what he says, it is then very comical to see how much he bought into the search engine page that sits on the website as legitimate content.
The first entry is for FreeLotteriesOnline.com.
I didn't know that FreeLotteriesOnline.com was a service provided by the city of Wharton, or by Edith Wharton for that matter.
Unless the lady has been reincarnated as a Blackjack dealer.
He says here,
"The Panel visited the Respondentââ¬â¢s website on July 14, 2003, and found out that it offers a number of options to the visitors, including a hotel locator in Wharton,"
A "hotel locator in Wharton," well.... There is a link to
http://hotellocators.com, where coincidentally you can search for hotel rooms in any city of the world, even in Wharton if you want to.
There is not a link on the page that would tell you anything about any of the cities of Wharton in the U.S.
Right now the biggest areas of content on the site relate to casinos and lotteries, finding hotel rooms and information about finding a job for people who have, a Masters Degree in Business.
Hmmm....now what was that again, The Wharton School of Business offers to people.
I believe, it is a Masters Degree in Business....!!
I'll be darn....!!!