Nominet orders ‘ihateryanair.co.uk’ to be handed over to the airline

Internet registry, Nominet has held that the privately owned website, ‘Ihateryanair.co.uk’ takes unfair advantage of the airline’s trademark, and should therefore be handed over to them. The website was set up in 2007 by Robert Tyler- a dissatisfied Ryanair customer. Its primary purpose was to create a forum for people to share their negative experiences of flying with the no-frills airline.

Ryanair complained to Nominet that Tyler’s use of their Community trademark in his website’s domain name constituted ‘abusive registration’. Although the judgment found in favour of Ryanair, expert Jane Seager clearly emphasised the importance of the continued existence of criticism websites, such as Tyler’s, in a democratic society. Nominet’s finding was not determined by Tyler’s use of a trademarked word for his domain name, but rather turned on the fact that he had received an income from the commercial links included on the site. Although the amount was insubstantial (£322), and despite the fact that making a profit was evidently not Tyler’s primary intention behind the site, Nominet concluded that using the trademark almost certainly increased the level of traffic to the website, and therefore constituted abusive registration. It was irrelevant that the domain name in its entirety made it clear that the website was not affiliated with the airline.

Nominet controls domain names with the co.uk ending. Its Dispute Resolution Service assesses registered websites in light of its policy of use, rather than undertaking an examination into legal issues. Wings clipped, but undeterred, Tyler has moved his website into the .org domain.

By Katey Dixon

Further Reading:

http://www.nic.uk/disputes/drs/decisions/decisionssearch/?searchText=i+hate+ryanair&x=0&y=0
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/oct/12/i-hate-ryanair-website-closed