RockRobotics.com UDRP Dispute: Domain Name Predates Trademark, Complaint Dismissed

On September 8, 2025, Rock Robotic Inc. (the "Complainant"), a US lidar equipment company, filed a UDRP complaint with WIPO regarding the domain name RockRobotics.com. The Complainant claimed ownership of the registered trademark "ROCK ROBOTIC" and alleged that the domain name was configured to redirect to a competitor's website.

The Respondent was Phoenix LiDAR Systems (the "Respondent"), also engaged in lidar hardware and mapping technology. The Respondent stated that the domain name had been transferred, but registrar data showed that the company was still the current registrant.

According to the case materials, the Complainant's trademark "ROCK ROBOTIC" was registered on May 23, 2023, with the claimed date of first use being August 1, 2020. The domain name RockRobotics.com was registered on July 27, 2017, three years before the trademark was used and registered. The complainant attempted to circumvent the pre-registration claim by citing the subsequent transfer of the domain name, but failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove this.

The Panel noted that if a domain name is registered before the creation of the trademark right, the respondent will generally not be found to have engaged in "bad faith" registration or use. In this case, there was no credible evidence demonstrating that the domain name registration or use was targeted or misleading.

Ultimately, the WIPO Panel, acting solely as a panel member, ruled that the complainant failed to demonstrate bad faith in the registration or use of the domain name and dismissed the complaint, maintaining the domain name RockRobotics.com in the respondent's possession.

Furthermore, historical WHOIS data from DomainTools indicates that the domain name appears to have been sold to the respondent by the domain name platform HugeDomains in late 2021.

Source: DomainGang