Wellness and undergarment company Ardyss International has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking by a National Arbitration Forum panel.
Ardyss filed a complaint for the domain name ArdyssBodyMagicShop.com, claiming that the owner of the domain was not a contracted distributor for Ardyss and was selling counterfeit Ardyss goods on its web site. Ardyss included an affidavit from the companyâs CFO stating that it had no business relationship with the respondent, according to the case decision.
The domainâs owner countered that it is indeed an independent distributor and has spent $240,000 with Ardyss, and provided documentation.
It appears that Ardyss provided an affidavit naming an entirely different person than the respondent and listing different domain names than from the instant case. A clerical mistake by Ardyss? Maybe so, but itâs surprising that they wouldnât file an additional submission to clarify the facts or withdraw the case upon learning of its mistake.
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Citing this conflicting story, the panelist wrote:
"This Panel cannot but draw the conclusion that the Complainant has engaged in a wilful attempt to deceive the Panel, hiding facts and making statements regarding Respondent that the Complainant presumably would easily have been able to correct after checking its internal records."
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