national
arbitration forum
DECISION
Ace Cash Express, Inc. v. Bridgette Clemmons
Claim Number: FA0802001153568
PARTIES
Complainant is Ace Cash Express, Inc. (“Complainant”), represented by Kay
Lyn Schwartz, of Gardere Wynne Sewell, LLP,
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN
NAME
The domain name at issue is <ace-cash-advance.com>, registered with Godaddy.com, 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 February 25, 2008; the National Arbitration Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on February 27, 2008.
On February 26, 2008, Godaddy.com, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum that the <ace-cash-advance.com> domain name is registered with Godaddy.com, Inc. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Godaddy.com, Inc. has verified that Respondent is bound by the Godaddy.com, 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 February 29, 2008, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the "Commencement Notification"), setting a deadline of March 20, 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@ace-cash-advance.com by e-mail.
Having received no response from Respondent, the National Arbitration Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On March 26, 2008, 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.
Having reviewed the communications records, the Administrative Panel (the "Panel") finds that the National Arbitration 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." Therefore, the Panel may issue its decision based on the documents submitted and in accordance with the ICANN Policy, ICANN Rules, the National Arbitration Forum's Supplemental Rules and any rules and principles of law that the Panel deems applicable, without the benefit of any response from Respondent.
RELIEF SOUGHT
Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
PARTIES' CONTENTIONS
A. Complainant makes the following assertions:
1. Respondent’s <ace-cash-advance.com> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s ACE mark.
2. Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the <ace-cash-advance.com> domain name.
3. Respondent registered and used the <ace-cash-advance.com> domain name in bad faith.
B. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
FINDINGS
Complainant is a retailer of financial services, including
check cashing, short-term consumer loans, bill payment and prepaid debit card
services. Complainant owns and operates
a network of 1,718 check cashing stores in the
Respondent registered the <ace-cash-advance.com> domain name on August 26, 2005. Respondent has been using the disputed domain name to redirect Internet users to a website that invites consumers to apply for a cash advance and then redirects them to competing services.
DISCUSSION
Paragraph 15(a) of 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."
In view of Respondent's failure to submit a response, the Panel shall decide this administrative proceeding on the basis of Complainant's undisputed representations pursuant to paragraphs 5(e), 14(a) and 15(a) of the Rules and draw such inferences it considers appropriate pursuant to paragraph 14(b) of the Rules. The Panel is entitled to accept all reasonable allegations and inferences set forth in the Complaint as true unless the evidence is clearly contradictory. See Vertical Solutions Mgmt., Inc. v. webnet-marketing, inc., FA 95095 (Nat. Arb. Forum July 31, 2000) (holding that the respondent’s failure to respond allows all reasonable inferences of fact in the allegations of the complaint to be deemed true); see also Talk City, Inc. v. Robertson, D2000-0009 (WIPO Feb. 29, 2000) (“In the absence of a response, it is appropriate to accept as true all allegations of the Complaint.”).
Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy requires that 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 Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights; and
(2) 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.
Identical and/or Confusingly Similar
Complainant registered the ACE mark with the USPTO, and has therefore established rights to the mark under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i). See Innomed Techs., Inc. v. DRP Servs., FA 221171 (Nat. Arb. Forum Feb. 18, 2004) (“Registration of the NASAL-AIRE mark with the USPTO establishes Complainant's rights in the mark.”); see also Janus Int’l Holding Co. v. Rademacher, D2002-0201 (WIPO Mar. 5, 2002) ("Panel decisions have held that registration of a mark is prima facie evidence of validity, which creates a rebuttable presumption that the mark is inherently distinctive.").
The <ace-cash-advance.com>
domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s ACE mark because it
incorporates the entire mark, merely adding two generic terms and a top-level
domain. The generic terms “CASH” and
“ADVANCE” both directly describe Complainant’s business. In Space Imaging LLC v. Brownell,
AF-0298 (eResolution Sept. 22, 2000), the panel found confusing similarity
where the respondent’s domain name combined the complainant’s mark with a
generic term that has an obvious relationship to the complainant’s
business. Moreover, the addition of the
generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) “.com” does not negate the confusingly
similarity because all registered domain names are required to have a top-level
domain. Finally, the additions of the
hyphens in the disputed domain name are insufficient for distinguishing the <ace-cash-advance.com> domain name
from the ACE mark. Therefore, the Panel
concludes that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the ACE mark
pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(i). See Busy
Body, Inc. v. Fitness Outlet Inc., D2000-0127 (WIPO Apr. 22, 2000)
("[T]he addition of the generic top-level domain (gTLD) name ‘.com’
is . . . without legal significance since use of a gTLD is
required of domain name registrants . . . ."); see also Health Devices Corp.
v.
The Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) has been satisfied.
Rights or Legitimate Interests
Complainant has the initial burden of showing that Respondent lacks all rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. Once Complainant has made a prima facie case, the burden shifts to Respondent to show that it does have rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii). The Panel finds that Complainant has made a prima facie case pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii), thereby shifting the burden to Respondent. See Clerical Med. Inv. Group Ltd. v. Clericalmedical.com, D2000-1228 (WIPO Nov. 28, 2000) (finding that, under certain circumstances, the mere assertion by the complainant that the respondent has no right or legitimate interest is sufficient to shift the burden of proof to the respondent to demonstrate that such a right or legitimate interest does exist); see also Do The Hustle, LLC v. Tropic Web, D2000-0624 (WIPO Aug. 21, 2000) (holding that once the complainant asserts that the respondent has no rights or legitimate interests with respect to the domain, the burden shifts to the respondent to provide “concrete evidence that it has rights to or legitimate interests in the domain name at issue”).
Because Respondent has failed to respond to the Complaint, the Panel presumes that Respondent has neither rights nor legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. Despite Respondent’s failure to respond, the Panel will consider all evidence in the record to determine if Respondent has rights or legitimate interests under Policy ¶ 4(c). See Parfums Christian Dior v. QTR Corp., D2000-0023 (WIPO Mar. 9, 2000) (finding that by not submitting a response, the respondent has failed to invoke any circumstance which could demonstrate any rights or legitimate interests in the domain name); see also BIC Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG v. Tweed, D2000-0418 (WIPO June 20, 2000) (“By not submitting a response, Respondent has failed to invoke any circumstance which could demonstrate, pursuant to ¶ 4(c) of the Policy, any rights or legitimate interests in the domain name”).
Complainant contends that Respondent has not been authorized to use the ACE mark. Moreover, nothing in the WHOIS information suggests that Respondent is commonly known by the <ace-cash-advance.com> domain name. The panel in Gallup, Inc. v. Amish Country Store, FA 96209 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 23, 2001) found that the respondent did not have rights in a domain name when the respondent is not known by the mark. Here also, the Panel concludes that Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii). See Tercent Inc. v. Lee Yi, FA 139720 (Nat. Arb. Forum Feb. 10, 2003) (stating “nothing in Respondent’s WHOIS information implies that Respondent is ‘commonly known by’ the disputed domain name” as one factor in determining that Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii) does not apply).
By using the disputed domain name to advertise services that
directly compete with Complainant’s cash advance service, Respondent has failed
to demonstrate that the disputed domain name is being used for a bona fide offering of goods or services under
Policy ¶ 4(c)(i), or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶
4(c)(iii). See Computerized Sec. Sys.,
Inc. v. Hu, FA 157321 (Nat. Arb. Forum June 23, 2003) (“Respondent’s
appropriation of [Complainant’s] SAFLOK mark to market products that compete
with Complainant’s goods does not constitute a bona fide offering of goods and
services.”); see also Or. State Bar v. A Special Day,
Inc., FA 99657 (Nat. Arb. Forum Dec. 4,
2001) (“Respondent's advertising of legal services and sale of law-related
books under Complainant's name is not a bona fide offering of goods and
services because Respondent is using a mark confusingly similar to the
Complainant's to sell competing goods.”).
The Panel finds that Policy ¶
4(a)(ii) has been satisfied.
Registration and Use in Bad Faith
Respondent is benefiting from the goodwill associated with
the ACE mark by operating a website that advertises cash advance services and
redirects Internet users to services directly competing with Complainant’s
business. The panel in AltaVista Co. v. Krotov, D2000-1091
(WIPO Oct. 25, 2000) found bad faith under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv) where the
respondent’s domain name resolved to a website that offered links to
third-party websites that offered services similar to the complainant’s
services and merely took advantage of Internet user mistakes.
Furthermore, Respondent’s use of ace-cash-advance.com> domain name is capable of creating confusion with Complainant as to the source,
sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of the website that resolves from the
disputed domain name. Therefore, the
Panel here finds that Respondent’s use of the disputed domain name evidences
registration and use in bad faith under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv). See TM Acquisition Corp. v. Carroll, FA
97035 (Nat. Arb. Forum May 14, 2001) (finding bad faith where the respondent
used the domain name, for commercial gain, to intentionally attract users to a
direct competitor of the complainant).
Moreover, the Panel
finds that Respondent’s use of the disputed domain name also evidences
registration and use in bad faith under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii) because Respondent’s
advertisement of similar financial services is capable of disrupting
Complainant’s business. See S. Exposure v. S. Exposure, Inc., FA
94864 (Nat. Arb. Forum July 18, 2000) (finding the respondent acted in bad
faith by attracting Internet users to a website that competes with the
complainant’s business); see also Disney Enters., Inc. v. Noel, FA 198805 (Nat. Arb. Forum Nov. 11, 2003) (“Respondent
registered a domain name confusingly similar to Complainant's mark to divert
Internet users to a competitor's website. It is a reasonable inference that
Respondent's purpose of registration and use was to either disrupt or create
confusion for Complainant's business in bad faith pursuant to Policy ¶¶
4(b)(iii) [and] (iv).”).
The Panel finds that Policy ¶
4(a)(iii) has been satisfied.
DECISION
Having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <ace-cash-advance.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Tyrus R. Atkinson, Jr., Panelist
Dated: April 9, 2008
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