The Chinese respondent failed to defend, and the MidjourneyAPI.xyz domain name changed hands

Recently, cases regarding domain name disputes have attracted widespread attention. The Chinese respondent argued in a UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Procedure) case that "MidjourneyAPI.xyz" is a generic domain name and should not be considered to infringe trademark rights.

Midjourney is a well-known artificial intelligence image generation company, and its trademark "Midjourney" has been in use since the beginning of 2022. The plaintiff Midjourney, Inc. is active in the market through its main domain name Midjourney.com.

The domain name "MidjourneyAPI.xyz" was registered by the Chinese respondent Cheng Fu. The plaintiff believes that the domain name infringes its trademark rights because it is similar to "Midjourney" and may cause confusion among consumers. Therefore, the plaintiff filed a complaint with the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) to transfer the domain name to its ownership.

In the UDRP proceedings, respondent Cheng Fu raised the following defense:

Genericity: The domain name contains the word "api", a widely recognized abbreviation for "Application Programming Interface", indicating that the domain name is related to API services rather than plaintiff's core image generation services. Therefore, the addition of the "api" part of the domain name distinguishes it from plaintiff's trademark and reduces the likelihood of confusion.

However, the Panel questioned the respondent's defense and held that in the current circumstances, the respondent could not have been unaware of the existence of plaintiff and its trademark when registering the domain name. The Panel held that the respondent's registration of the domain name constituted bad faith with the intent to attract Internet users by creating domain names similar to plaintiff's trademarks and thereby obtain commercial benefits.

Ultimately, the Panel ruled to transfer the domain name "MidjourneyAPI.xyz" from respondent Cheng Fu to plaintiff Midjourney, Inc. This ruling emphasizes the protection of trademark rights and the importance of avoiding bad faith in domain name registration and use.