07/06/2010 Mega domain name case in Belgium

EURid, the European Registry of Internet Domain Names, is embroiled in a legal battle involving more than 10,000 .eu domain names. EURid wants to withdraw the names, which it claims have been registered in bad faith.

www.bentleymotors.eu
In April 2006, a London resident, Qingying Zengh, registered 10,200 .eu domain names. Many incorporate well-known trademark names, such as bentleymotors.eu, thomascooktravel.eu, arcelorprojects.eu and andrewlloydwebber.eu.

€ 30,000
Zengh then approached the trademark owners and offered to sell them the names. Several accepted her terms, which were tough to say the least: for example, she wanted € 30,000 for the name ericpol.eu (an offer which was turned down by the Belgian company Ericpol Telecom).

Domain name hijacker
On 10 September 2009, the District Court in Brussels ruled that EURid can withdraw the 10,000-plus names. According to the court, they were registered in bad faith and Zengh must be regarded as a “cybersquatter”.

Court of Appeal
Zengh has now lodged an appeal with the Belgian Court of Appeal to have the ruling quashed and is claiming damages from EURid. The judgement will be issued in June 2010, in what is surely the biggest domain name case of all time.