A luxury vehicle dealership in Tennessee has run afoul of Lamborghini and, potentially, international law, by allegedly registering domain names and redirecting them to its own website
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October 4, 2023 at 19:04
The thing about being clever is that it’s not always appreciated – especially when it comes to trademarks. For example, Lamborghini took a dim view to the owner of a luxury car dealership in Nashville getting clever with a couple of internet domain names related to its brand.
The trouble began in 2021, when Lamborghini opened a dealership in Nashville, Tennessee. As with any brand, it wanted to set up a website for the new dealership, but found that the web address “lamborghininashville.com” had belonged to one John Pasas since 2011.
Pasas is the owner of Velocity Motorcars of Murfreesboro Pike, a high-end car dealer in the area. Although it may occasionally have Lamborghinis for sale, it is not officially affiliated with the brand, which is why it sent Pasas a cease and desist letter in August 2021.
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“I appreciate and respect your clients’ position regarding my company’s ownership of the domain, Lamborghininashville.com,” Pasas wrote back, per The Tennessean. “We are invested into the domain and I am unwilling to just hand it over. How would you suggest we proceed?”
What may seem like a reasonable position was not backed up in court, though. In 2022, the U.N.’s World Intellectual Property Organization ruled that the domain was being used in bad faith by Pasas and that his letter amounted to “clear indication that the Respondent intended to negotiate and sell the Domain Name.”
The organization ordered Velocity Motorcars to transfer the domain to Lamborghini. However, the story doesn’t end there, because the dealer decided to buy another domain name. This time, it scooped up lamborghiniofnashville.net, which redirects to its website.
Lamborghini has, once again, decided to sue. The automaker claims that the web address is “likely to be confused with Lamborghini’s legitimate online location at www.lamborghini.com.” It further claims that Velocity Motorcars is harming its reputation while profiting off its name.
The automaker alleges that the dealer’s use of its trademarks in social media posts is unauthorized and the dealer is “effectively holding itself out as a Lamborghini dealer despite maintaining no affiliation or relationship with Lamborghini.”
The automaker is seeking $100,000 in damages, accusing Velocity Motorcars of trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and cybersquatting, the name for registering well-known brand’s names as internet domains and hoping to sell them at a profit. The practice has been a federal crime since 1999.
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