Julia Fiona Roberts v. Russell Boyd

Case No. D2000-0210 (2000)

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Julia Fiona Roberts v. Russell Boyd

World Intellectual Property Organization
Case No. D2000-0210 (2000)

Facts

Julia Fiona Roberts (plaintiff) was an actor who became famous and obtained an unregistered trademark in her name before 1998. In November 1998, Russell Boyd (defendant) registered the domain name juliaroberts.com, posted content unrelated to Roberts on the site, and placed the website for auction on eBay. Boyd registered over 50 other domain names that were identical to the names of other celebrities. Roberts filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization, alleging that (1) the name of Boyd’s website was identical and confusingly similar to Roberts’s unregistered trademark in her name, (2) Boyd had no rights or legitimate interest in the domain name, and (3) Boyd registered and used the domain name in bad faith. Boyd did not submit evidence to contradict the first two allegations but disputed the third, claiming that he registered the domain name because he was a fan of Roberts. Boyd argued that he had rights and an interest in the domain name because he registered and used the name in good faith.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning ()

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