Sandals has no interest in delivering on their promises, but they sure have an interest in protecting their brand name! Within a few days of my registering sandalsgrandeochoriosreviews.com, I received the following email from Sandals' legal department:
To Whom it May Concern:
We have determined that SANDALSGRANDEOCHORIOSREVIEWS.COM is using the “Sandals” Trademark as a part of your Domain name without prior permission.
Gorstew uses the Sandals® service mark for hotel reservation services in connection with various Sandals® "Luxury Included" vacation resorts in the Caribbean .
Such unauthorized use of Sandals® as a domain constitutes service mark infringement, direct/contributory infringement and unfair competition, and is an unfair and deceptive trade practice.
On behalf of Gorstew, we demand that you immediately cease and desist from using Sandals® as a part of your domain name unless and until you obtain prior, express, written confirmation from Gorstew that Gorstew has authorized such use. Should you fail to cease and desist, Gorstew will pursue all available legal remedies against you.
Please advise us in writing and within ten business days what steps, if any, you intend to take to comply with Gorstew's demand.
Unique Vacations, Inc., Legal
Legal@uvi.sandals.com
Unique Vacations, Inc. is the worldwide representatives for Sandals and Beaches Resorts for Gorstew, Ltd. ("Gorstew"), which is the registered owner of the service mark Sandals® (U.S. Service Mark Registration Number 1,614,295).
And here is my response:
Dear Mr. Walton
In response to your emails dated January 5, 2009 and January 15, 2009 in which
you determined that my recently registered domain, www.sandalsgrandeochoriosreviews.com is
a violation of the Sandals trademark, please be advised that I dispute that
determination.
If you take a moment to visit my web site, you will clearly see that the above-referenced domain is being used solely as a personal, non-commercial review of my recent vacation at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios. The site does not and will not offer any travel-related services and any casual reader, even the most unsophisticated, would easily recognize that this is a personal vacation review. Additionally, I have no interest in selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to you.
Pursuant to Paragraph 4b of the ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution
Policy, it is clear that I have not registered this domain in bad faith, rather,
I am simply providing a fair, honest and detailed review of my recent stay at
one of your properties. I do so only in the interest of providing a public
service that was lacking at the time I booked my Sandals vacation. If
you take the time to read my review, you will note that I was very happy with
many aspects of my vacation but feel that Sandals is willfully and intentionally
misleading the public with regards to the quality of food served at the Grande
Ocho Rios.
I thank you in advance for recognizing that I am in compliance with ICANN rules and look forward to your department closing this file. However, if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
A disappointed Sandals guest
cc: Unique Vacations, Inc. Board of Directors, Mr. Brian Mair, Mr. Michael Lamanna, Mr. Kevin Froemming, 4950 S.W. 72ndAvenue, 2nd floor, Miami, FL 33155 (VIA CERTIFIED MAIL)
Mr. Walton didn't have the courtesy to reply, but I must assume that he realized that Sandals has no legal standing to force a guest to give up a domain which points to a personal, non-commercial and honest review. I suspect most people aren't aware of ICANN rules and would simply comply with Mr. Walton's demands, even though they lack no legal standing. It just goes to show you, if you know the earth is round but a lawyer insists that it is flat, a certain percentage of the population will believe it because most people are afraid of lawyers.