Daimler AG v. Auto Seubert
GmbH c/o Bernhard Seubert
Claim Number: FA0807001213551
PARTIES
Complainant is Daimler AG (“Complainant”), represented by Jan
Zecher, of Fish & Richardson P.C.,
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <mercedes-benz-jahreswagen.net>,
registered with Psi-Usa, Inc. d/b/a Domain Robot.
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.
Terry F. Peppard as Panelist.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum
electronically on July 2, 2008; the
National Arbitration Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on July 7, 2008.
On July 3, 2008, Psi-Usa, Inc. d/b/a Domain Robot confirmed by
e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum that the <mercedes-benz-jahreswagen.net>
domain name is registered with Psi-Usa, Inc. d/b/a
Domain Robot and that the Respondent is the current registrant of the
name. Psi-Usa,
Inc. d/b/a Domain Robot has verified that Respondent is bound by the Psi-Usa, Inc. d/b/a Domain Robot 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 10, 2008, a Notification
of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the “Commencement
Notification”), setting a deadline of July 30, 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@mercedes-benz-jahreswagen.net by e-mail.
A timely Response was received and determined to be complete on July 30, 2008.
On August 6, 2008, pursuant to Complainant’s
request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National
Arbitration Forum appointed Terry F. Peppard as sole Panelist in this proceeding.
RELIEF SOUGHT
Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from
Respondent to Complainant.
PARTIES’ CONTENTIONS
A. Complainant
The trademark MERCEDES-BENZ is a world-wide famous trademark.
The MERCEDES-BENZ trademark has been used by Complainant and its legal predecessors for more than a century.
In the last ten years, Complainant and its legal predecessors have sold annually millions of automobiles under the MERCEDES-BENZ trademark world-wide.
In the last decade, Complainant spent hundreds of millions of US-dollars on advertising and promoting products bearing its MERCEDES-BENZ trademark in a wide range of media, including print, radio, television and the Internet throughout the world.
Complainant does not sell only new cars, but also trades with used cars.
The used car business is of considerable economic importance to Complainant.
Complainant owns, inter alia, the following registered trademarks: German trademark registration no. 375,067 “Mercedes-Benz” (word mark) with priority of April 25, 1925, registered and used for, e.g., “automobiles”; European Community trademark registration no. 139,964 “Mercedes-Benz” (word mark) with priority of April 1st, 1996, registered and used for, e.g., “vehicles; financial affairs; repair; transport.”
Respondent registered the disputed domain name on October 25, 2007.
Since then, it has been using the domain name for a web site on which Respondent offers
cars of various brands, including
Audi, BMW, Fiat, Ford, Opel, Seat, Skoda,
Volvo and Volkswagen.
Respondent is not a licensed dealer of Complainant.
The element “jahreswagen” in Respondent’s domain name is descriptive of used
automobiles, as it has the meaning: “one year old car”.
The domain name <mercedes-benz-jahreswagen.net> is confusingly similar to the
trademark MERCEDES-BENZ.
Respondent has neither rights to nor legitimate interests in respect of the domain name.
Respondent has
not used the domain name before notice of the dispute for a bona
fide offering of goods or services, nor has it been commonly known by the domain
name, nor has it a legitimate noncommercial or fair use for the domain name.
Respondent acted
in bad faith when registering and using the domain name.
B. Respondent
In its Response to the Complaint, Respondent declared as follows:
“Respondent agrees to the transfer of the domain name to Complainant….
Respondent requests that the Panel issues [sic] a decision that the domain
registration be transferred to Complainant.”
DISCUSSION
Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy requires that, in the ordinary course,
Complainant must prove each of the following elements to obtain from a Panel an
order that a domain name be transferred:
i.
the
domain name registered by Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a
trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights;
ii.
Respondent
has no rights to or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
iii.
the
domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, 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.”
Further, Policy ¶ 3(a) provides for
the transfer of a domain name registration upon the written instructions of the
parties to a UDRP proceeding without the need for otherwise required findings
and conclusions (see Malev Hungarian
Airlines, Ltd. v. Vertical Axis Inc., FA 212653 (Nat. Ar. Forum
DECISION
Respondent’s Response does not contest the material allegations of the
Complaint. In particular, it does not contest Complainant’s request that the
disputed domain name be transferred to Complainant. Indeed Respondent joins in
that request. Thus the parties have agreed in writing to a transfer of the
subject domain name from Respondent to Complainant without the need for further
proceedings.
It is therefore Ordered that the <mercedes-benz-jahreswagen.net> domain name be
forthwith
TRANSFERRED from Respondent
to Complainant.
Terry F. Peppard, Panelist
Dated: August 14, 2008
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