GENEVA — An arbitrator has ordered the domain name XVideos.co transferred to Copypaste Ltd. after the company launched a case at WIPO arguing the URL is squatting on XVideos.com.
XVideos.com, launched in 2007, is one of the largest adult tube sites on the Internet, garnering about 4.4 billion page views from over 350 million unique visitors every month.
But two years ago, Fonco Trading Services of Panama purchased the domain name XVideos.co to build a network of adult entertainment sites.
Fonco, according to WIPO dispute resolution papers filed in the case, intended to use the domain to develop a business plan related to adult content along with other domain names, including Porn.co, Porns.co and ESex.co.
Fonco allegedly also piggybacked on other top-ranking domain variants as well, by purchasing domains and developing Ask.co, AutoTrader.co, Weather.co, RapidShare.co and YouPorn.co.
With evidence in hand, complainant Copypaste Ltd. said that Fonco has been engaging in a pattern of registering domain names in the “.co” top-level domain space that contain marks used by well-known Internet businesses.
The WIPO neutral agreed with CopyPaste, finding that Fonco proved on "balance of probabilities" that the respondent registered and used the disputed domain name in bad faith.
"The respondent submits that it is not its purpose to create confusion among Internet users relative to the name XVideos but that the respondent’s partners had thought that this was a general word related to adult video content," ruled the WIPO arbitrator, noting that the respondent also acknowledged that it is not a trademark expert and might have made a mistake.
Copypaste Ltd. of Hong Kong was represented by Randazza Legal Group of Las Vegas.