Domain name ups.dk should be transferred to United Parcel Service of America

United Parcel Service of America Inc. vs. Data4u by Jan Normand Andersen, the Supreme Court

United Parcel Service registered in 1976 its trademark UPS in Denmark, and has since 1986 been doing business in Denmark through a subsidiary.

In 1998-1999 Data4u registered about 200 domain names, including the domain names ups.dk and domain-salg.dk (in English: domain-sale.dk). Some of these domain names were subsequently sold by Data4u.

United Parcel Services requested assignment of the domain name ups.dk. This request was refused by Data4u, who referred to the fact that the domain name had been registered with the purpose of marketing and sale of Uninterruptible Power Sup¬pliers also known as UPS. The domain name was however not yet in use for this purpose.

On appeal, the Supreme Court found opposite to the Maritime and Commercial Court that Data4u did not have a creditable interest in maintaining registration of the inactive domain name ups.dk whereas United Parcel Service clearly had a need in using the domain name.

Data4u’s maintenance of the registration of the domain name and refusal to as¬sign the same to United Parcel Services was thus considered a violation of good domain practices according to the Danish Domain Names Act, and Data4u was ordered to assign the domain name to United Parcel Services.