A man tried to scam Lamborghini out of 75 million $, and it didn't end well

The story could have been one of digital genius, the kind that turns a simple domain name into a fortune. But for one Arizona investor, convinced he'd struck it rich when he bought Lambo.com, the reality was far less flamboyant. What started out as a $10,000 investment ended up as a legal battle, and without a single dollar gained.

An investor's risky bet

It all began in 2018. The man, used to speculating on domain names, bought Lambo.com for $10,000. For him, the idea was crystal clear: "Lambo" had become, in common parlance, a globally recognized diminutive for Lamborghini. If he owns Lambo.com, he potentially owns part of the brand's image. Better still, it's an asset that Lamborghini might want back, at any price. For several years, he developed nothing on the site. No projects, no services, no content. Lambo.com became an empty page... except for one detail: a link to purchase it. And the price goes up fast.

First $1.1 million. Then $12 million. Then to a truly insane $75 million. The investor felt untouchable. He even went so far as to publicly adopt the pseudonym "Lambo" on the Internet, convinced that this association would give him legitimacy in the event of litigation. But this strategy, instead of protecting him, was to be his undoing.

Lamborghini enters the scene

As the asking price skyrockets, the matter reaches Lamborghini's ears. At Sant'Agata Bolognese, such speculative attempts are not taken lightly. In 2022, the Italian brand took the matter to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), arguing that Lambo.com was a direct reference to its brand and that its owner was clearly trying to profit from it.

WIPO analyzes his behavior: no commercial activity, no use of good faith, just an aggressive sale of the domain with a price multiplied by 7,500 compared to the initial purchase.
For the organization, there's no doubt about it: this is cybersquatting, a practice prohibited by international law. The verdict is in: Lambo.com must be transferred to Lamborghini. But the businessman refused to give up. He took legal action in his turn, hoping to overturn the decision and save what he considered a "personal asset".

The final judgment

The case goes all the way to federal court, where Judge Roslyn O. Silver issued a 15-page decision.
And the least we can say is that it leaves no room for doubt.

The judge ruled that :

• the investor has no right to the "Lambo" trademark,
• the use of the domain is clearly in bad faith,
• the resemblance to Lamborghini is deceptive,
• adopting the pseudonym "Lambo" after purchase does not constitute a legitimate identity,
• the astronomical asking price proves a clear desire to exploit the brand.

Worse still: at one point, the man had redirected the site to a forum where he accused Lamborghini of "theft" and promised to "defend, beat and humiliate" the brand.
Suffice to say, this did not work in his favor.

The result: Lamborghini gets Lambo.com back for free, without having paid a single dollar (except probably in legal fees). The investor, on the other hand, leaves empty-handed. He loses:

• its initial investment of $10,000,
• the domain name,
• tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

The judge even concluded that the $75 million estimate was... "pure fantasy".