Diners Club International
Ltd. v. Paul Coppinger
Claim Number: FA0707001032051
PARTIES
Complainant is Diners Club International Ltd. (“Complainant”), represented by Paul
D. McGrady, of Greenberg Traurig, LLP,
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <dinersweb.com>, registered with Enom, Inc.
PANEL
The undersigned certifies that he or she has acted independently and
impartially and to the best of his or her knowledge has no known conflict in
serving as Panelist in this proceeding.
Tyrus R. Atkinson, Jr., as Panelist.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum
electronically on July 12, 2007; the
National Arbitration Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on July 13, 2007.
On July 13, 2007, Enom, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the National
Arbitration Forum that the <dinersweb.com> domain
name is registered with Enom, Inc. and
that the Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Enom, Inc.
has verified that Respondent is bound by the Enom,
Inc. registration agreement and has thereby agreed to resolve
domain-name disputes brought by third parties in accordance with ICANN’s
Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy”).
On July 16, 2007, a Notification
of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the “Commencement
Notification”), setting a deadline of August 6, 2007 by which Respondent could
file a Response to the Complaint, was transmitted to Respondent via e-mail,
post and fax, to all entities and persons listed on Respondent’s registration
as technical, administrative and billing contacts, and to postmaster@dinersweb.com by e-mail.
On August 3, 2007, Respondent requested, with Complainant’s consent,
that Respondent be allowed additional time to file a Response. The National Arbitration Forum subsequently
granted Respondent’s request, extending the date by which Respondent could
submit a timely Response to August 27, 2007.
A timely Response was received and determined to be complete on August 27, 2007.
On August 31, 2007, pursuant to Complainant’s
request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National
Arbitration Forum appointed Tyrus R. Atkinson, Jr., as Panelist.
RELIEF SOUGHT
Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from Respondent
to Complainant.
PARTIES’ CONTENTIONS
A. Complainant
Diners Club is a
leading provider of financial services to individuals, small businesses, and
large corporations through many channels of trade, including but not limited
to, credit card services. The credit
cards issued by Diners Club are accepted in over 200 countries and at over 7.6
million locations around the world.
Complainant is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Citigroup, a leading global financial services
organization. The credit cards issued by
Complainant are accepted at over 800,000 ATMs and are issued in 64 local
currencies. Complainant has over 8
million individual cardholders.
Complainant holds
numerous registrations for the DINERS trademarks and service marks in the
On May, 28, 2006,
Respondent registered the <DINERSWEB.COM>
domain name.
Respondent uses the
domain name to resolve to a website promoting competing financial services.
Complainant has not
given Respondent any license, permission, or authorization by which Respondent
could make any use of any of its marks.
B. Respondent
Respondent’s Response
And Stipulation To Transfer, while denying bad faith and asserting that
Complainant has no trademark registration for DINERSWEB, and without admitting
liability or any wrongdoing, consents to the transfer of the domain name to
Complainant. Respondent further requests
that the Panel forego the usual UDRP analysis and “simply make an order for the
transfer of the domain name to Complainant.”
FINDINGS
1.
Since
both Complainant and Respondent have requested the Panel to transfer the <DINERSWEB.COM> domain name from
Respondent to Complainant, there exists no dispute between the parties, and the
Panel accepts the joint request.
DISCUSSION
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.”
Respondent
has consented to judgment in favor of Complainant and has requested the
immediate transfer of the subject domain name. Under these circumstances, the
Panel is authorized to forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order the
immediate transfer of the domain name. See
Boehringer Ingelheim Int’l GmbH v. Cayman Web Dev., FA133625 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 9, 2003) which held that it was proper to transfer a
domain name registration where the respondent stipulated to the transfer. See
also Disney Enters., Inc. v. Morales, FA475191 (Nat. Arb. 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 to forego
the traditional UDRP analysis and order the transfer of the domain
names.”).
In the case of Malev Hungarian Airlines, Ltd. v. Vertical Axis
Inc., FA212653 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 13, 2004), the Panel held as
follows; “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 of compliance (or not)
with the Policy.”
Based
upon the precedent of these cases, and the facts and circumstances of this
case, the Panel sees no requirement to make a formal UDRP analysis, and finds
it proper to transfer the domain name at issue to Complainant.
DECISION
The Parties having jointly requested that the <dinersweb.com> domain name be transferred from Respondent to
Complainant and such joint request being proper under the ICANN Policy, the
Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <dinersweb.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED
from Respondent to Complainant.
Tyrus R. Atkinson, Jr., Panelist
Dated: September 14, 2007
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