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DECISION

 

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. v. Belize Domain WHOIS Service Lt c/o Whois Service

Claim Number: FA0806001204908

 

PARTIES

Complainant is The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (“Complainant”), represented by Arlana S. Cohen of Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, P.C., New York, USA.  Respondent is Belize Domain WHOIS Service Lt c/o Whois Service (“Respondent”), Belize.

 

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME

The domain name at issue is <foodemporium.org>, registered with Intercosmos Media Group Inc.

 

PANEL

The undersigned certifies that she acted independently and impartially and that to the best of her knowledge, she has no known conflict in serving as Panelist in this proceeding.  Hon. Carolyn Marks Johnson sits as Panelist.

 

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum electronically June 12, 2008; the National Arbitration Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint June 16, 2008.

 

On June 13, 2008, Intercosmos Media Group Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum that the <foodemporium.org> domain name is registered with Intercosmos Media Group Inc. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name.  Intercosmos Media Group Inc. verified that Respondent is bound by the Intercosmos Media Group Inc. registration agreement and thereby has agreed to resolve domain-name disputes brought by third parties in accordance with ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Policy").

 

On June 20, 2008, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the "Commencement Notification"), setting a deadline of July 10, 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@foodemporium.org by e-mail.

 

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

 

On July 16, 2008, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National Arbitration Forum appointed Hon. Carolyn Marks Johnson to sit as Panelist.

 

Having reviewed the communications records, the Administrative Panel (the "Panel") finds that the National Arbitration Forum 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.      The domain name that Respondent registered, <foodemporium.org>, is confusingly similar to Complainant’s THE FOOD EMPORIUM mark.

 

2.      Respondent has no rights to or legitimate interests in the <foodemporium.org> domain name.

 

3.      Respondent registered and used the <foodemporium.org> domain name in bad faith.

 

B.  Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.

 

FINDINGS

Complainant, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc., owns and operates a supermarket and food store chain in the eastern region of the United States.  Complainant owns more than 30 stores under the name “The Food Emporium.”  Additionally, Complainant registered the THE FOOD EMPORIUM mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (Reg. No. 2,685,875 issued Feb. 11, 2003).

 

Respondent registered the disputed domain name January 19, 2006.  The <foodemporium.org> domain name resolves to a third-party links page in direct competition with 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."

 

Given 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 will draw such inferences as the Panel 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 Complainant to 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 to and/or Confusingly Similar

 

The Panel finds that Complainant established rights to the THE FOOD EMPORIUM mark based upon its trademark registration with the USPTO.  Therefore, the Panel recognizes Complainant’s rights in the THE FOOD EMPORIUM mark for the purposes of Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).  See Microsoft Corp. v. Burkes, FA 652743 (Nat. Arb. Forum Apr. 17, 2006) (“Complainant has established rights in the MICROSOFT mark through registration of the mark with the USPTO.”); see also

Trip Network Inc. v. Alviera, FA 914943 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar. 27, 2007) (finding that the complainant’s federal trademark registrations for the CHEAPTICKETS and CHEAPTICKETS.COM marks were adequate to establish its rights in the mark pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(i)).

 

The disputed domain name that Respondent registered, <foodemporium.org>, contains Complainant’s THE FOOD EMPORIUM mark, removing only the article “the” and the space between words. These minor alterations do not diminish the similarity between the disputed domain name and Complainant’s mark. Addition of the generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) “.org” is irrelevant since all domain names require a top-level domain.  Therefore, the Panel finds that Respondent’s <foodemporium.org> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s THE FOOD EMPORIUM mark pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).  See Buffalo News v. Barry, FA 146919 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar. 31, 2003) (finding the respondent's <bufalonews.com> domain name confusingly similar to Complainant's THE BUFFALO NEWS mark); see also Hannover Ruckversicherungs-AG v. Ryu, FA 102724 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 7, 2001) (finding <hannoverre.com> to be identical to HANNOVER RE, “as spaces are impermissible in domain names and a generic top-level domain such as ‘.com’ or ‘.net’ is required in domain names”); see also Mega Soc. v. LoSasso, FA 215404 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 30, 2004) (finding that the <megasociety.net> and <megasociety.com> domain names  were identical or confusingly similar to Complainant's THE MEGA SOCIETY mark); see also Nev. State Bank v. Modern Ltd. – Cayman Web Dev., FA 204063 (Nat. Arb. Forum Dec. 6, 2003) (“It has been established that the addition of a generic top-level domain is irrelevant when considering whether a domain name is identical or confusingly similar under the Policy.”).

 

The Panel finds Complainant satisfied the elements of ICANN Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).

 

Rights to or Legitimate Interests

 

Complainant claims that Respondent has no rights to or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii).  Complainant has the initial burden of showing that Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.  Once Complainant makes a prima facie showing that Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests, the burden shifts to Respondent to show that it has to rights or legitimate interests in the <foodemporium.org> domain name.  See Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires v. Greenpeace Int’l, D2001-0376 (WIPO May 14, 2001) (“Proving that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name requires the Complainant to prove a negative. For the purposes of this sub paragraph, however, it is sufficient for the Complainant to show a prima facie case and the burden of proof is then shifted on to the shoulders of Respondent.  In those circumstances, the common approach is for respondents to seek to bring themselves within one of the examples of paragraph 4(c) or put forward some other reason why they can fairly be said to have a relevant right or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name in question.”); see also 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).

 

Complainant asserts that Respondent has not been authorized to use the THE FOOD EMPORIUM mark, and that Respondent is not and has never been commonly known by the disputed domain name.  Further, the WHOIS information does not indicate that Respondent is commonly known by the disputed domain name.  Thus, the Panel finds that Respondent is not commonly known by the <foodemporium.org> 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); see also Gallup, Inc. v. Amish Country Store, FA 96209 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 23, 2001) (finding that the respondent does not have rights in a domain name when the respondent is not known by the mark).

 

Respondent is using the <foodemporium.org> domain name to advertise links to third-party competitors.  The Panel finds that such use is not 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 DLJ Long Term Inv. Corp. v. BargainDomainNames.com, FA 104580 (Nat. Arb. Forum Apr. 9, 2002) (“Respondent is not using the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods and services because Respondent is using the domain name to divert Internet users to <visual.com>, where services that compete with Complainant are advertised.”); see also Ameritrade Holdings Corp. v. Polanski, FA 102715 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 11, 2002) (finding that the respondent’s use of the disputed domain name to redirect Internet users to a financial services website, which competed with the complainant, was not a bona fide offering of goods or services).  

 

The Panel finds that Complainant met the initial burden of showing that Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests, and therefore has made a prima facie case under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii). 

 

The Panel finds that Complainant satisfied the elements of ICANN Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii).

 

Registration and Use in Bad Faith

 

The Panel finds that Respondent’s use of the <foodemporium.org> domain name to commercially gain by advertising links to competing services constitutes bad faith registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii).  See 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).”); see also 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). 

 

Complainant contends that Respondent is using the <foodemporium.org> domain name for commercial gain by advertising links to competing services, and benefiting from the likely confusion between Complainant’s mark and the disputed domain name.  The Panel finds that the similarity between the disputed domain name and the THE FOOD EMPORIUM mark is likely to create confusion as to Complainant’s source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of the website that resolves from the disputed domain name, which constitutes bad faith registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv).  See AltaVista Co. v. Krotov, D2000-1091 (WIPO Oct. 25, 2000) (finding 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); see also Gardens Alive, Inc. v. D&S Linx, FA 203126 (Nat. Arb. Forum Nov. 20, 2003) (“Respondent registered and used the <my-seasons.com> domain name in bad faith pursuant to Policy ¶¶ 4(b)(iii) and (iv) because Respondent is using a domain name that is confusingly similar to the MYSEASONS mark for commercial benefit by diverting Internet users to the <thumbgreen.com> website, which sells competing goods and services.”).

 

The Panel finds that Complainant satisfied the elements of ICANN Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii).

 

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 <foodemporium.org> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.

 

 

Hon. Carolyn Marks Johnson, Panelist

Dated: July 30, 2008.

 

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