TORONTO — The Canadian operator of online dating service CougarLife.com recently won a cybersquatting decision that resulted in an order that forces a transfer of the domain name CougarLifeDating.net.
CougarLife.com, which also owns CougarLifeDating.com among numerous other domain names, is one of the preeminent dating services that pairs older women with younger men.
The Toronto-based service, with its reported 5 million members, launched nearly seven years ago. It holds trademarks for “Cougar Life” in Canada, the E.U. and the U.S.
CougarLifeDating.net, which was ordered transferred, has operated most recently as an adult entertainment website that offered links to mostly tube sites.
CougarLifeDating.net’s domain holder, Donald Kelly, did not challenge the cybersquatting case filed at the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. Kelly, according to the complaint, registered the domain name in February 2015.
An arbitration jurist last week ruled against Kelly, deciding that the domain name CougarLifeDating.net was identical or confusingly similar to the “Cougar Life” mark, that he did not have any legitimate rights or interests in the domain name, and that he registered and used it in bad faith.
As a result, the domain was ordered transferred to the operators of CougarLife.com.