The British Airports Authority have lost in their attempt to get control of the gatwick.com domain name. A WIPO UDRP arbitration panel decided that

"The Respondent has never used the Complainant’s trademark. His website content is controlled by him and his US associates as an independent business, operating separately from the Complainant’s airport business. Using his own proprietary rights, he is therefore providing a legitimate directory of services in the Gatwick sub-regional area. He receives an income from this business, which he has the right to operate.

There is no risk of consumers being misled into believing that his site is an official BAA website. It does not display the BAA name nor indicate to those searching the Internet that they have arrived at the Gatwick Airport site. The Complainant cannot prove that the Respondent deliberately selected the name with the sole intention of gaining Internet traffic intended for the Complainant. He has had honest and fair use of the website address for 8 years without opposition from the Complainant.

The Respondent is a software engineer who registered the disputed domain name to provide a directory for a large variety of businesses in the area, initially through emails and public information sites."

In addition the panel refused to pass any judgement on the claim by the owner of the domain, Bob Larkin, that BAA had engaged in a dirty tricks campaign to try and wrestle the domain from his control. They also said BAA has not registered the trademark in the Gatwick name until a number of years after Gatwick.com was registered as a domain name.