Bloomberg Finance L.P. v. Conor O\'Loughlin
Claim Number: FA1904001837267
Complainant: Bloomberg Finance L.P., of New York, New York, United States of America.
Complainant Representative: Brendan T. Kehoe
Respondent: Conor O\'Loughlin of Toronto, Ontario, CA.
REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS
Registries: Amazon Registry Services, Inc.
Registrars: EnCirca, Inc.
The undersigned certifies that he or she has acted independently and impartially and to the best of his knowledge has no known conflict in serving as Examiner in this proceeding.
Omar Haydar, as Examiner.
Complainant submitted: April 4, 2019
Commencement: April 5, 2019
Default Date: April 23, 2019
Having reviewed the communications records, the Examiner finds that the Forum has discharged its responsibility under URS Procedure Paragraphs 3 and 4 and Rule 4 of the Rules for the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (the "Rules").
Complainant requests that the domain name be suspended for the life of the registration.
Clear and convincing evidence.
The complaint and findings relate to one domain <bloomberg.bot>. There is one Complainant and one (or more) Respondent, and no domain names were dismissed from this complaint.
The Respondent has registered the domain name <bloomberg.bot>.
Complainant, Bloomberg Finance L.P., and/or its affiliate, Bloomberg L.P., is the owner of trademark Bloomberg, which according to its 2008 trademark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, has been in use since 1987. Further, Complainant has registered and operated the website <bloomberg.com> since 1993, which Examiner has confirmed is currently in use as at the date of this determination.
Complainant has claimed that the domain name in question is identical to their protected word or mark.
Even though the Respondent has defaulted, URS Procedure 1.2.6, requires Complainant to make a prima facie case, proven by clear and convincing evidence, for each of the following three elements to obtain an order that a domain name should be suspended:
1. The registered domain name(s) is/are identical or confusingly similar to a word or mark for which the Complainant holds a valid national or regional registration and that is in current use.
2. Respondent has no legitimate right or interest to the domain name.
3. The domain name(s) was/were registered and are being used in bad faith.
The Examiner finds that Complainant has proven that the domain name is identical through evidence of the trademark registration. The Complainant’s trademark is a well established mark, in use for almost thirty years with international use and recognition as a platform and source for financial news and services.
The Examiner further finds that Complainant has proven that Respondent has no legitimate right or interest to the domain name. The Complainant has neither licensed the trademark to the Respondent for use, nor has the Respondent made any claim to a legitimate right or interest to the name, whether by responding to this Complaint or vis-a-vis the content of their website.
The Examiner finds that the evidence proves the domain names were registered and are being used in bad faith. While the domain name could theoretically be utilized in a non breaching manner due to the possible commonality of the name, there is no evidence of any intent as such. Further, it is quite reasonable to conclude that the well established and known trademark is being utilized solely to attract visitors, as the domain gives an automatic inference of affiliation to the entity holding the trademark, and would cause confusion amongst internet users into an assumption of an affiliation or relationship. (See Treeforms.com FA0010000095856)
After reviewing the Complainant’s submissions, the Examiner determines that the Complainant has demonstrated all three elements of the URS by a standard of clear and convincing evidence; the Examiner hereby Orders the following domain names be SUSPENDED for the duration of the registration.
[bloomberg.bot]
Omar Haydar, Examiner
Dated: April 26, 2019
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