Kellogg North America
Company v. N.A. c/o Gregor
Claim Number: FA0712001122969
PARTIES
Complainant is Kellogg North America Company (“Complainant”), represented by David
R. Haarz, of Harness, Dickey & Pierce PLC,
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <eggo.com>, registered with IA Registry.
PANEL
The undersigned certifies that he has acted independently and
impartially and to the best of his knowledge has no known conflict in serving
as Panelist in this proceeding.
Jeffrey M. Samuels as Panelist.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum
electronically on December 20, 2007; the
National Arbitration Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on December 26, 2007.
On January 1, 2008, IA Registry confirmed by e-mail to the National
Arbitration Forum that the <eggo.com> domain name is registered
with IA Registry and that the Respondent
is the current registrant of the name. IA Registry has verified that Respondent is
bound by the IA Registry 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 January 7, 2008, a
Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the
“Commencement Notification”), setting a deadline of January 28, 2008 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@eggo.com by e-mail.
A timely Response was received and determined to be complete on January 23, 2008.
On January 31, 2008, pursuant to Complainant’s
request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National
Arbitration Forum appointed Jeffrey M. Samuels as Panelist.
RELIEF SOUGHT
Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from
Respondent to Complainant.
PARTIES’ CONTENTIONS
A. Complainant
Complainant, Kellogg North America Company, is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Kellogg Company. Kellogg
Company is one of the largest food companies in the world. During the fiscal year that ended December
31, 2006, Kellogg Company had sales of $10.9 billion worldwide.
Among Kellogg’s many food products is a waffle sold under the EGGO
trademark. EGGO waffles have been sold by Complainant’s predecessors in
interest since 1936.
The EGGO mark is the subject of a
Complainant contends that the disputed domain name <eggo.com> is identical or confusingly similar to the EGGO
mark. Complainant notes that the domain
name incorporates the exact mark and merely adds the generic top-level domain
“.com” onto the mark.
Upon information and belief, Complainant asserts that Respondent has no
rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. Complainant points out that the <eggo.com> domain name resolves
to the <sclipo.com> web page which, according to Complainant, includes
inappropriate content for children, who are one of the primary users of
Kellogg’s <leggomyeggo.com> web site.
Complainant expresses concern that its reputation may be harmed as a
result when children and their parents seeking the Kellogg EGGO web site end up
at the <sclipo.com> site.
Complainant maintains that neither it nor its licensee, Kellogg
Company, has licensed or otherwise permitted Respondent to use the EGGO mark or
to apply for any domain name incorporating the EGGO mark, and that Respondent
is not making any legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the EGGO mark.
Complainant further explains that its searches of the databases of both
the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Community Trade Mark
Office reveal that Respondent does not own any trademark applications or
registrations. Upon information and
belief, Complainant contends that Respondent has never been commonly known as
“Eggo.” Complainant notes that there is
some indication that there was an “Eggo Innovation Consultants, S.L.” but that
such entity is not the owner of the <eggo.com>
domain name.
From information posted on the Internet, Complainant indicates that
Respondent “Gregor” spent considerable time in the
Complainant also contends that Respondent is not using the disputed
domain name in connection with a bona
fide offering of goods or services.
The facts of record suggest and support a finding that Respondent
registered and is using the domain name in bad faith, Complainant argues. It contends that from the time the <eggo.com> domain name was first
registered on May 3, 2001, the domain name was for
sale. See Complaint, Exhibit 10,
consisting of a printout indicating that on September 26, 2001, the <eggo.com> domain name was for
sale. Complainant asserts that, in 2005,
after Complainant contacted Respondent regarding the infringing nature of the <eggo.com> domain name, Respondent
attempted to sell the domain name to Kellogg for €100,000. See
Complaint, Exhibit 5. According to
Complainant, one year later, in September 2006, Respondent suggested to Kellogg
that it should purchase the <eggo.com>
domain name for €100,000 because Respondent was getting traffic that was
intended for Kellogg’s <leggomyeggo.com> web site.
Respondent’s bad faith is further evidenced by the fact that
Complainant’s EGGO mark is distinctive and known by the public in the
According to Complainant, “[i]n registering and later using the
eggo.com domain name, the Respondent has intentionally attempted to attract for
commercial gain Internet users to his and others’ websites by creating a
likelihood of confusion with the Complainant’s mark as to the source,
sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of Respondent’s website.”
B. Respondent
In his Response, Respondent contends that he has rights or legitimate
interests in the <eggo.com>
domain name. Specifically, Respondent
argues that, before any notice of the instant dispute, he was using the <eggo.com> domain name in
connection with a bona fide offering
of goods or services, i.e., a
consulting business known as “Eggo- Innovation Consultants Sociedad Limitada,”
which is located in
Respondent notes that he acquired the <eggo.com> domain name from Domain Deluxe on December 10,
2002, for $1,400. See Response, Exhibit 4. According to Respondent, “[m]y only reason
to buy and register [e]ggo.com was for the foundation of my consulting firm
Eggo. At the time I registered the
domain, I did not even know of the existence of the Eggo Waffles product (Even
though I lived in the
Respondent further maintains that he did not initiate any contact with
Complainant for the purpose of selling the domain name. Respondent contends that he was first
contacted by Complainant’s trademark attorney on December 4, 2003, when he
received a “cease and desist” letter and was requested to contact Complainant’s
attorney to discuss the matter. See Response, Exhibit 6. Respondent then called the attorney and
conveyed his understanding that he had not registered the domain name in bad
faith because he was running a legitimate consulting business called
“Eggo.” According to Respondent, during
such conversation, Complainant’s attorney asked whether Respondent was willing
to sell the domain name. Respondent did
not offer to sell the domain name but pointed out that he might consider it if
his cost for changing domain names was reimbursed. On October 20, 2006,
Complainant’s attorney offered to purchase the domain name for $15,000. See
Response, Exhibit 7. Respondent did not
respond to this offer.
FINDINGS
The Panel finds that: (1) the disputed domain
name e<eggo.com> is identical
to the EGGO mark; (2) Complainant has rights in the mark EGGO; (3) Respondent
has rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name; and (4) the
domain name was not registered and is not being used in bad faith.
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.”
Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy requires that the Complainant must prove
each of the following three elements to obtain an order that a domain name
should be cancelled or transferred:
(1) the domain name registered by the Respondent
is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the
Complainant has rights;
(2) the Respondent has no rights or legitimate
interests in respect of the domain name; and
(3) the domain name has been registered and is
being used in bad faith.
The Panel finds that the disputed domain
name, <eggo.com>, for all
intents and purposes, is identical to the EGGO mark. The addition in the disputed domain name of
the top-level domain “.com” is irrelevant for purposes of the policy. See,
e.g., Snow Fun, Inc. v. O’Connor, FA 96578 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar. 8, 2001)
(finding that the domain name termquote.com is identical to complainant’s TERMQUOTE
mark).
The Panel further concludes that Complainant,
through its ownership of
The Panel finds that Respondent has rights or
legitimate interests in the <eggo.com>
domain name. The preponderance of the
evidence supports Respondent’s contention that he has used the disputed domain
name in connection with a bona fide
offering of goods or services prior to the commencement of the instant UDRP
proceeding.
The evidence indicates that Respondent is the
sole owner of Eggo Innovation Consultants, which was incorporated in
Respondent has provided a plausible rationale
for the selection of the name “Eggo” and has stated that, at the time he
registered the <eggo.com>
domain name, he did not know of the EGGO mark, as used on waffles and related
products. Respondent’s Response includes
his certification that the information contained therein is “complete and
accurate.”
The evidence also reveals that Respondent’s <eggo.com> website is active and is not being used to promote the sale of goods or services that compete with, or even relate to, that offered by Complainant under the EGGO mark.
This case can be contrasted with those cases where a respondent has either put forward no explanation for registering a domain name containing another party’s trademark or has put forward such an explanation but the panel has not found the explanation to be credible. For example, in The Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Public Limited Company & Liverpool FC.TV Limited v. Andrew James Hetherington, D2002-0046 (WIPO April 4, 2002), the respondent claimed to have registered <liverpoolfc.com> for use in relation to a business called The Liverpool Fashion Club; however, no such business was ever conducted through the website.
A further example is the case Cattlecare Limited v. Wairua Holdings Pty Limited t/a Poplar Pastoral Co, D2001-1373 (WIPO Jan. 24, 2001), in which the respondent claimed to not be aware of the complainant or its trademark (which was identical to the domain name). However as the business being operated through the website was in the same country and in the same industry as the well-known complainant, this claim also lacked credibility with the Panel.
The instant Panel notes that while the evidence indicates that Complainant’s EGGO brand waffles have enjoyed much market success and is the subject of a CTM registration (and is thus subject to protection in Spain, where Respondent’s business is located), there is no evidence as to sales in Spain itself. Thus, Respondent’s contention that he did not know of the existence of EGGO brand waffles at the time he acquired the domain name is not incredible.[1]
The Panel finds that the disputed domain name
was not registered and is not being used in bad faith. Rather, as set forth above, the Panel finds
the evidence supportive of a determination that Respondent is using the domain
name in connection with a bona fide
offering of goods or services and did not know of Complainant’s EGGO mark at
the time the domain name was purchased.
The evidence does not indicate that the
domain name was registered or acquired for the purpose of selling it to the
Complainant.[2] The evidence suggests that it was Complainant’s
counsel who requested Respondent to provide an estimate of the cost of adopting
a new name.[3] Respondent
estimated such costs at €100,000.
Complainant later offered to purchase the domain name for $15,000.
The evidence also does not support a
determination that, by using the disputed domain name, Respondent intentionally
attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to his site by
creating a likelihood of confusion as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation,
or endorsement of such site or of the goods or services offered thereon. To reiterate, the Panel finds that Respondent
did not even know of the existence of the EGGO brand at the time he purchased
the <eggo.com> domain name,
and, thus, may not be found to have acted “intentionally,” within the meaning
of paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy.
Further, the goods or services offered at the <eggo.com> domain name bear no relation to the goods sold by
Complainant under the EGGO mark.
DECISION
Having failed to establish all three elements required under the ICANN
Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be DENIED.
Jeffrey M. Samuels, Panelist
Dated: February 14, 2008
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[1] Complainant’s reliance on the Lanham Act’s constructive notice requirement is misplaced. Most ICANN panels have found that the concept of constructive notice is not applicable in disputes under the UDRP. See, e.g. Alberto-Culver Co. v. Pritpal Singh Channa, Case No. D2002-0757 (WIPO Oct. 7, 2002).
[2] The fact that the eggo.com domain name was listed for sale in September 2001 is of no moment since the evidence indicates that Respondent did not acquire the domain name until December 2002.
[3] The August 16, 2005, letter from Respondent to Complainant’s counsel states “Upon your request, please find below an estimate of the cost Eggo Innovation Consultants S.L. would incur for a name change.” See Complaint, Exhibit 5.