Originally Posted by domaingenius
If I regged the name 1 year before they even thought of it can they say
that was bad faith ?.
DG
Under this fact, you should win. They must show you registered after they established trademark rights, (among other things).
Really ?
You must know for a fact this individual has never infringed or used in bad faith this domain. The only way he is in the right imo is if he has not and THEN and ONLY THEN could such a statement be made with any confidence at all.
Registering first in no way is a free pass should you then use the name in bad faith at a particular point down the road.
The real question or best question before proceeding is to ask DG.
DG, have you at any point parked this domain and displayed ads, competitors ads etc of the complaintant ? Or any chance you offered to sale them this name ?
Cannot ad to legal section posts so to add ....
Furthermore imo bad faith CAN be shown eventhough you registered the name a year prior and here is how.
I read a local paper, see a tv ad, here of a new product or service for company X, I go and register a domain which clearly indentifies that product/service. While they may not at that time had a registered mark they may have a very strong case regardless. It is not always a case of a filed mark.
As for ownership transfer deleting bad faith or infringing use. I cannot say I have seen a case where such a defense was used and worked.