Alstom Awarded Alstom.in in INDRP Case

[Ceres]

Alstom (a French company) won the domain Alstom.in via INDRP arbitration. Alstom does business worldwide in areas such as power generation and transport, and owns various Alstom related trademarks.

The respondent didn't file a response. Is Alstom a surname? Even if it is, I doubt it's a popular surname in India. However, the company Alstom seems quite well-known in India. Seeing as the respondent didn't file a response showing he had a legitimate interest in the name, I'm not too surprised the respondent lost the domain. However, it bothers me is that the decision doesn't go through the required tests to succeed under INDRP.

Here are a few highlights from the case:

The Respondent has offered in its correspondence to sell the disputed
domain name to the Complainant for an amount of € 1000 which exceeds
the out of pocket expenses.

I think that's approx. $1,490 USD.

The disputed domain name redirects to the official website of Alstom dedicated to India. Consequently the Respondent can not claim that he does not know the ALSTOM trademark.

It seems like an unusual move on the respondent's part, don't you think?