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DECISION

 

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Symons Internet Group Inc. c/o Kim Symons

Claim Number: FA0804001174405

 

PARTIES

Complainant is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company           (“Complainant”), represented by Debra J. Monke, of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Illinois, USA.  Respondent is Symons Internet Group Inc. c/o Kim Symons (“Respondent”), British Columbia, Canada.

 

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME

The domain name at issue is <statefarmtvnetwork.com>, registered with Godaddy.com, Inc.

 

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.

 

James A. Carmody, Esq., as Panelist.

 

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum electronically on April 1, 2008; the National Arbitration Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on April 2, 2008.

 

On April 2, 2008, Godaddy.com, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum that the <statefarmtvnetwork.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 April 2, 2008, correspondence from Respondent was received.  As the instant dispute had not yet officially commenced according to the Policy, this correspondence was not a Response under the Policy. 

 

On April 7, 2008, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the "Commencement Notification"), setting a deadline of April 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@statefarmtvnetwork.com by e-mail.

 

Having received no response from Respondent, the National Arbitration Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.

 

On May 1, 2008, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National Arbitration Forum appointed James A. Carmody, Esq., 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 <statefarmtvnetwork.com> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s STATE FARM mark.

 

2.      Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the <statefarmtvnetwork.com> domain name.

 

3.      Respondent registered and used the <statefarmtvnetwork.com> domain name in bad faith.

 

B.  Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding but has communicated to the National Arbitration Forum that it consents to transfer of the domain name at issue, <statefarmtvnetwork.com>, from Respondent to Complainant.

 

FINDINGS

Complainant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, is a nationally-recognized company that has been doing business since at least 1930.  Complainant provides services in the insurance and financial services industries, and advertises these services in various forms of media, including television.  Complainant also owns numerous domain names, including the <statefarm.com> domain name which it uses for its main Internet presence.   

 

Respondent registered the <statefarmtvnetwork.com> domain name on September 11, 2007.  Respondent has submitted correspondence which indicates that it wishes to transfer the disputed domain name to Complainant.     

 

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.

 

Preliminary Issue: Consent to Transfer the Disputed Domain Name

 

On April 2, 2008, the National Arbitration Forum received correspondence from Respondent indicating its consent to transfer the disputed domain name to Complainant.  As both sides have requested the same remedy, the Panel finds it unnecessary to proceed with a complete analysis under the UDRP, but rather will order the transfer of the <statefarmtvnetwork.com> domain name from Respondent to Complainant.  See Boehringer Ingelheim Int’l GmbH v. Modern Ltd. – Cayman Web Dev., FA 133625 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 9, 2003) (transferring the domain name registration where the respondent stipulated to the transfer); see also Malev Hungarian Airlines, Ltd. v. Vertical Axis Inc., FA 212653 (Nat Arb. Forum Jan. 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.”).

 

Accordingly, the Panel will not examine the elements of Policy ¶¶ 4(a)(i)-(iii).

      

DECISION

For the reasons stated above, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.

 

Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <statefarmtvnetwork.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.

 

 

 

James A. Carmody, Esq., Panelist

Dated:  May 7, 2008

 

 

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