Capcom Co. Ltd and Capcom U.S.A. Inc. v. Dan Walker trading as "Namesale"

Capcom Co. Ltd and Capcom U.S.A. Inc. v. Dan Walker trading as &#34;Namesale&#34; was a copyright law case which decided over the rights to "residentevil.com".

Background
Following the release of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2, the series became a hit and sold several million copies. In 1998, following the release of Resident Evil 2, Dan Walker from Washington, purchased the domain name "residentevil.com" on 9 May, 1998, registered to Network Solutions Inc. In November 1999, Walker offered to sell the URL to Capcom for $800, which was refused when Capcom claimed ownership. On 29 November, Walker tried to sell the URL on an online auction site for $850, with the description: "A catchy name, this domain name is extremely valuable. This versatile name would be a great investment for some future-minded entrepreneur. Good domain names like this are becoming rarer and rarer". On 1 December, Capcom sent a cease & desist notice, and received an email from Walker on the 9th stating that registration had been cancelled. Walker changed his mind the following month, and Capcom offered to reimburse him for the initial registration fee paid to NSI, which was rejected.

Case
Capcom filed a complaint to the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Medication Center ("WIPO Center") on 23 March, 2000. WIPO confirmed through contact with NSI the website was still registered in Walker's name and no attempt had been made to cancel the registration, as claimed. An additional 20 day period was offered in which Walker was to respond to the complaint, but refused to do so. The case was accepted as having merit, and the Honourable Sir Ian Barker QC was invited as arbitrator. Barker ruled that: "(a) that the domain name registered by the Respondent is confusingly similar to the trademark to which the Complainant has rights;

(b) that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and

(c) the Respondent's domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith."

Consequently, Walker or NSI was ordered to hand over the URL to Capcom.