Trademark case: Smith v. Airbnb, Inc., USA

The registrant failed to show that his domain name airbnbseo.com was not confusingly similar to Airbnb’s famous mark, or that he acted without a bad faith intent to profit from that mark.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s dismissal of claims brought under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) and Arizona common law. After Airbnb successfully obtained a transfer of the disputed domain name airbnbseo.com, its registrant sued to block the transfer. The registrant’s second amended complaint (SAC) did not establish that this domain name was not confusingly similar to AIRBNB, nor that he lacked a bad faith intent to profit from the use of Airbnb’s mark (Smith v. Airbnb, Inc., No. 25-571 (9th Cir. Jul. 8, 2026)).

Case date: 10 July 2026
Case number: No. 25-571
Court: United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law