Zaddy.com Arbitration Decision: HugeDomains Wins

In May 2025, WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) ruled that the US domain name investment company HugeDomains won the Zaddy.com dispute case and determined that the complainant Zaddy, LLC had engaged in "reverse domain name hijacking".

In this case, Zaddy, LLC attempted to obtain the Zaddy.com domain name under HugeDomains through the UDRP procedure on the grounds that it has owned the "ZADDY" trademark since 2018 and used it to sell cosmetics, men's health products and other products. However, the complained domain name Zaddy.com was registered as early as 2005, more than 13 years earlier than the first use of the Zaddy trademark.

Andrew Reberry, founder of HugeDomains, pointed out through his lawyer that the domain name registration obviously predates the existence of the complainant's company and trademark, and "zaddy" as a common word is not exclusive to the complainant. In the absence of evidence of malicious registration, its holding and resale behavior constitutes legitimate business activities. The panel finally adopted this view.

The three WIPO panelists unanimously agreed that Zaddy, LLC filed a complaint knowing that it had no right to obtain the domain name, which was a malicious act, intending to seize assets that did not belong to it through arbitration procedures. The final ruling dismissed the complaint and determined that the complainant constituted reverse domain name hijacking.

This is another case in which a trademark party tried to "strike back" to obtain an early generic word domain name but failed, and it once again emphasized the legitimate rights of early domain name holders in legal registration and passive holding.