Oblon's Trademark Department has obtained a favorable Administrative Panel Decision in a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ("UDRP) arbitration proceeding on behalf of its client ManTech International Corporation, one of the largest information services companies in the United States. The UDRP proceeding had been conducted under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO"). The unanimous three member panel decision successfully transfers the domain name mantech-corp.com to our client ManTech International Corporation ("ManTech").
The domain name had been registered by a third party as part of an attempt to fraudulently procure tens of thousands of dollars of computer equipment from ManTech's vendors. The mantech-corp.com domain name was selected because it was very similar to the real ManTech domain name, mantech.com. As part of the criminal scheme, the domain name, mantech-corp.com, was used in a series of emails incorporating that domain, that apparently were from ManTech, and that purported to order computer equipment on behalf of ManTech. However, the fraudulently procured equipment was to be delivered in such a manner as to be diverted to the criminal actor at a storage facility in Missouri. Under this typical criminal scheme, once the equipment is delivered, the perpetrators then ship the equipment out of the U.S. for resale. The successful UDRP decision transferring the domain name to ManTech puts an end to this fraudulent scheme.
As part of its ongoing global efforts to combat piracy and internet fraud, Oblon regularly employs both UDRP administrative proceedings and litigation as effective tools to terminate such wrongful conduct.