Baroness Penelope Cat of Nash DCB, who is listed as the owner of
mymorganstanleyplatinum.com and was given some assistance in the
case by Michael Woods, lost control of the domain to Morgan
Stanley.
A key part of the case rested on whether or not Baroness
Penelope was truly the owner of the domain. The first indication
that the decision was unlikely to veer cat-wards came in the
written decision of Arbitration Forum Panellist Richard Hill.
"Respondent maintains that it is a cat, that is, a well-known
carnivorous quadruped which has long been domesticated," summarised
Hill. "However, it is equally well-known that the common cat, whose
scientific name is Felis domesticus, cannot speak or read
or write."
Baroness Penelope argued in its submission that "the
registration information is not false; there are an immense number
of Domain Names registered by non human beings".
Hill was not to be swayed, however. "A common cat could not have
submitted the Response (or even have registered the disputed domain
name)," he wrote. "Therefore, either Respondent is a different
species of cat, such as the one that stars in the motion picture
'Cat From Outer Space,' or Respondent’s assertion regarding its
being a cat is incorrect."
"If Respondent is in fact a cat from outer space, then it should
have so indicated in its reply, in order to avoid unnecessary
perplexity by the Panel."
In order to retain the domain name Baroness Penelope had to
fulfill three criteria. Having failed the first two, the case
rested on whether or not having a cat as a registered owner of a
domain constituted 'bad faith'. Hill ruled that it did. Baroness
Penelope was uncontactable for comment at the time of going to
press.
