The domain name ASLA.com was registered in 1995 and returned to its original owner in UDRP 30 years later

Recently, a domain name dispute case has attracted widespread attention. The complainant, the American Society of Landscape Architects, Inc. (ASLA), successfully regained the domain name ASLA.com from the respondent, Jenel Murgu / XM Solutions LLC in California, USA, through the UDRP procedure.

The domain name was registered as early as 1995, and after 30 years of twists and turns, it was finally returned to its original owner.

It is reported that the American Society of Landscape Architects has long been operating through ASLA.org. The history of the ASLA.com domain name is quite complicated. The copy preserved on the Archive.org website shows that an organization called the "American Seminar Leaders Association" began to use the domain name since at least 2004.

However, the organization seems to be no longer active. In 2023, the domain name was added to the Sedo platform through a temporary change of DNS, and the offer at that time was as high as 1.5 million US dollars.

In this UDRP proceeding, the Panel found after an in-depth investigation that the Respondent most likely acquired the domain name knowing that the Complainant had long held the ASLA trademark (which has been in use since 1899).

Although the Respondent claimed to have owned the domain name since 1995, it failed to provide any substantive evidence to support it. In addition, there are indications that the domain name changed hands between March 2023 and February 2024.

The Forum Panel determined that the Respondent attempted to damage the Complainant's business reputation by using similar entity names and conducting business for the same professional audience (landscape architects). In addition, the Respondent's attempt to sell the domain name to the Complainant further weakened its claim to have legal rights to the domain name.

After a comprehensive review and analysis, the Panel finally decided to transfer the domain name ASLA.com to the Complainant, the American Society of Landscape Architects.