Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Jasper Developments Pty Ltd
Claim Number: FA2204001992455
Complainant is Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (“Complainant”), represented by David K. Caplan of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, California, USA. Respondent is Jasper Developments Pty Ltd (“Respondent”), Australia.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <labcorp.org>, registered with GoDaddy Online Services Cayman Islands Ltd.
The undersigned certifies that he has acted independently and impartially, and, to the best of his knowledge, has no conflict of interests in serving as Panelist in this proceeding.
Terry F. Peppard as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the Forum electronically on April 14, 2022; the Forum received payment on April 14, 2022.
On April 15, 2022, GoDaddy Online Services Cayman Islands Ltd. confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <labcorp.org> domain name is registered with GoDaddy Online Services Cayman Islands Ltd. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. GoDaddy Online Services Cayman Islands Ltd. has verified that Respondent is bound by the GoDaddy Online Services Cayman Islands Ltd. registration agreement and has thereby agreed to resolve domain disputes brought by third parties in accordance with ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy”).
On April 18, 2022, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of June 21, 2022, by which Respondent could file a Response to the Complaint, via e-mail to all entities and persons listed on Respondent’s registration as technical, administrative, and billing contacts, and to postmaster@labcorp.org. Also on April 18, 2022, the Written Notice of the Complaint, notifying Respondent of the e-mail addresses served and the deadline for a Response, was transmitted to Respondent via post and fax, to all entities and persons listed on Respondent’s registration as technical, administrative and billing contacts.
Having received no sufficient response from Respondent, the Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On June 29, 2022, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed Terry F. Peppard as sole Panelist in this proceeding.
Having reviewed the communications records, the Administrative Panel (the "Panel") finds that the Forum has discharged its responsibility under Paragraph 2(a) of the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Rules") "to employ reasonably available means calculated to achieve actual notice to Respondent" through submission of Electronic and Written Notices, as defined in Rule 1 and Rule 2. Therefore, the Panel may issue its decision based on the documents submitted and in accordance with the ICANN Policy, ICANN Rules, the Forum's Supplemental Rules and any rules and principles of law that the Panel deems applicable, without the benefit of a sufficient response from Respondent.
Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
A. Complainant
Complainant is the world’s leading health care diagnostics company, providing comprehensive clinical laboratory services throughout the world.
Complainant uses its LABCORP service mark in association with the provision of clinical laboratory services.
Complainant holds a registration for the LABCORP mark, which is on file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as Registry No. 2,000,799, registered September 17, 1996, and renewed most recently November 30, 2016.
Respondent registered the domain name on <labcorp.org> April 11, 2004.
The domain name is both identical and confusingly similar to Complainant’s LABCORP mark.
Respondent has not been commonly known by the domain name.
Respondent has not been authorized to use Complainant’s LABCORP mark.
Respondent is not making either a bona fide offering of goods or services by means of the domain name or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of it.
Instead, the domain name hosts hyperlinks that resolve to websites offering services that compete with those of Complainant.
Respondent also offers the domain name for sale.
Respondent does not have any rights to or legitimate interests in the domain name.
Respondent has been involved in six previous UDRP proceedings which resulted in the transfer of each of the domain names at issue in those cases.
Respondent both registered and now uses the domain name in bad faith.
B. Respondent
Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding compliant with the requirements of the Policy and its attendant Rules. However, Respondent has submitted to the Forum, on April 18, 2022, an email message which consents to the transfer of the <labcorp.org> domain name to Complainant.
DISCUSSION
Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy requires that, in the ordinary course, Complainant must prove each of the following in order to obtain from a Panel a decision that a domain name be transferred to it:
i. the domain name registered by Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights;
ii. Respondent has no rights to or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
iii. the same domain name has been registered and is being used by Respondent in bad faith.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Paragraph 15(a) of the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Rules”) instructs this Panel to “decide a complaint on the basis of the statements and documents submitted in accordance with the Policy, these Rules and any rules and principles of law that it deems applicable.”
Further, Policy ¶ 3(a) provides for the transfer of a domain name registration upon the written instructions of the parties to a UDRP proceeding without the need for otherwise required findings and conclusions. See, for example, Malev Hungarian Airlines, Ltd. v. Vertical Axis Inc., FA 212653 (Forum January 13, 2004):
In this case, the parties have both asked for the domain name to be transferred to the Complainant . . . Since the requests of the parties in this case are identical, the Panel has no scope to do anything other than to recognize the common request, and it has no mandate to make findings of fact or of compliance (or not) with the Policy.
See also Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Morales, FA 475191 (Forum June 24, 2005):
[U]nder such circumstances, where Respondent has agreed to comply with Complainant’s request, the Panel felt it to be expedient and judicial [sic] to forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order the transfer of the domain names.
DECISION
Respondent does not contest the material allegations of the Complaint, and, in particular it does not contest Complainant’s request that the disputed domain names be transferred to Complainant. Rather, in the face of Complainant’s demand that the domain name be transferred to it, Respondent has expressed in writing its willingness to surrender it. The parties have thus effectively agreed in writing to a transfer of the domain name from Respondent to Complainant without the need for further proceedings.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <labcorp.org> domain name be forthwith TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Terry F. Peppard, Panelist
Dated: July 6, 2022
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