Video game company Oniric Studio's attempt to reverse hijack the domain name oniric.com failed.

Recently, a UDRP case involving the domain name oniric.com has garnered significant attention. The arbitration panel determined that Oniric Studio SRL, a Romanian video game company, acted in bad faith when filing its complaint, a classic example of reverse domain name hijacking (RDNH).

Case details indicate that Oniric Studio was founded in 2020 and registered the "Oniric" figurative trademark in 2021. The company subsequently attempted to acquire the oniric.com domain name through a UDRP proceeding. However, the domain name was registered long before the complainant: the domain name holder, Stanley Pace, had registered oniric.com in 2012, eight years before the company was founded.

Panel member Fabrizio Bedarida stated in his ruling that the complainant "completely lacked evidence or any facts" to prove that the respondent registered the domain name in bad faith or with intent to target an unincorporated company. In other words, the timing of the registration alone was sufficient to demonstrate that the respondent could not have targeted the complainant.

Ultimately, the tribunal determined that the complaint lacked merit and was motivated by malicious intent, constituting a classic case of reverse domain hijacking.

This case serves as a reminder of an important principle in the domain name industry: the UDRP is not a shortcut for brands to compensate for lost domain names. If the target domain name was registered years before the company's incorporation and trademark registration, the brand owner should acquire it through reasonable negotiation or market acquisition, rather than abusing the UDRP process.