Panicky brand, arbitrary arbitration?

The travel community portal oktatabyebye.com has been around for some time. In May 2009, Tata Sons Ltd filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) against the portal owners, contendng that the domain name infringes the right of its registered trademark/service mark TATA. WIPO is a specialised agency of the United Nations, established to promote the protection of IP throughout the world.

WIPO delivered its decision recently wherein it noted that the respondent had registered and is using the domain name (oktatabyebye.com) in bad faith; and ordered the domain name to be transferred to Tata Sons Limited.

This looks like a strange decision. "Ok Tata Bye Bye" is a colloquial phrase often used in our country to bid a jovial farewell. The portal has called for public support to preserve its rights over the domain.

Brand owners sometimes get unnecessarily jittery about their trademarks being misused. Brands are not just logos and trademarks. What you do as a company is also part of your branding.