The Arbitration and Mediation Center of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ordered the transfer of the domain name ipitaka.com.ua to the Chinese company Shenzhen Lingyi Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., which owns the well-known brand of mobile accessories PITAKA. The corresponding decision in the case was made by sole arbitrator Taras Kyslyi.
The Arbitration and Mediation Center of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ordered the transfer of the domain name ipitaka.com.ua to the Chinese company Shenzhen Lingyi Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., which owns the well-known brand of mobile accessories PITAKA. The corresponding decision in the case was made by sole arbitrator Taras Kyslyi.
In August 2026, Shenzhen Lingyi Innovation Technology filed a complaint regarding the domain ipitaka.com.ua, registered with the Ukrainian registrar Imena.ua in September 2024. The owner of the domain turned out to be Ukrainian citizen Andriy Karpyuk.
According to the complainant, the website under the disputed domain sold phone cases under the PITAKA brand, as well as electronics from other manufacturers. At the same time, in the “About the store” section, the resource positioned itself as “the official Pitaka store in Ukraine” and indicated the addresses of pickup points, including in Kyiv. The Chinese company stated that it did not provide the defendant with any licenses, distribution rights, or permits to use the trademark, and there are no official offline stores of the brand in Kyiv.
Andriy Karpyuk filed an objection (lately, but the arbitrator took it into consideration to ensure equality of arms), in which he asked to dismiss the complaint. His main arguments were that:
at the time of domain registration (September 2024), the Ukrainian trademark PITAKA had not yet been registered (the certificate in Ukraine entered into force only in April 2026);
the mere sale of goods of a certain brand on a multi-brand marketplace is not a violation;
the complainant did not prove that consumers were actually misled, and the defendant himself has the right of a prior user under Article 500 of the Civil Code of Ukraine.
Having reviewed the case materials according to the .UA Policy rules, the arbitrator satisfied the Chinese company's requirements on all three mandatory criteria.
Similarity to the degree of confusion. The domain name completely reproduces the PITAKA trademark, and the addition of one letter "i" at the beginning does not eliminate the risk of confusion for consumers.
Lack of rights or legitimate interests. The arbitrator noted that the .UA Policy rules take into account the registration of trademarks not only in Ukraine, but also in other jurisdictions (in the USA, the PITAKA brand has been registered since 2018). In addition, in order for a reseller to legally use someone else's brand in the domain (according to Oki Data criteria), he must sell exclusively products of this brand on the website and clearly disclose the lack of official connection with the copyright holder. The defendant violated both conditions: he traded competitors' products and presented the website as an official store.
Unfair registration and use. The arbitrator concluded that the domain owner was aware of the well-known brand at the time of registration and intentionally created the appearance of an official representation to attract buyers and gain commercial advantage.
As a result, WIPO decided to transfer the domain name ipitaka.com.ua to Shenzhen Lingyi Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. As verified by the dev.ua editorial team, the ipitaka.com.ua website continues to operate.
