State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Thai Connector c/o Siwat Thainugul
Claim Number: FA0811001232817
Complainant is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“Complainant”), represented by Debra
J. Monke, of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance
Company,
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN
NAME
The domain name at issue is <lower-state-farm-insurance.com>, registered with Godaddy.com, Inc.
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.
Honorable Karl V. Fink (Ret.) as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to
the National Arbitration Forum electronically on
On
On
Having received no response from Respondent, the National Arbitration Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On December 9, 2008, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National Arbitration Forum appointed Honorable Karl V. Fink (Ret.) 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.
Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
A. Complainant makes the following assertions:
1. Respondent’s <lower-state-farm-insurance.com> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s STATE FARM INSURANCE mark.
2. Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the <lower-state-farm-insurance.com> domain name.
3. Respondent registered and used the <lower-state-farm-insurance.com> domain name in bad faith.
B. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
Complainant, State Farm
Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, first began using the STATE FARM mark in
1930 and registered the STATE FARM INSURANCE mark (Reg. No. 1,125,010) with the
United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) on
Respondent registered the <lower-state-farm-insurance.com>
domain name on
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
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.
By registering the STATE FARM
INSURANCE mark with the USPTO, Complainant has established rights in the mark
pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(i). See Vivendi Universal Games v.
XBNetVentures Inc., FA 198803 (Nat. Arb. Forum
The <lower-state-farm-insurance.com>
domain name includes Complainant’s STATE FARM
INSURANCE mark in its entirety and adds hyphens, the generic descriptive word
“lower,” and the generic top-level domain (gTLD) “.com.” The addition of a gTLD and hyphens do not
alter the confusingly similarity that results from using Complainant’s entire
mark. See Mrs.
World Pageants, Inc. v. Crown Promotions, FA 94321 (Nat. Arb. Forum
The Panel finds that Complainant has satisfied Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).
The initial burden under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii)
is on Complainant to prove that Respondent does not have any rights or
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
pursuant Policy ¶ 4(c). See Compagnie
Generale des Matieres Nucleaires v. Greenpeace Int’l, D2001-0376
(WIPO
The Panel finds no evidence in the record suggesting that
Respondent is commonly known by the <lower-state-farm-insurance.com>
domain name. Complainant asserts that
Respondent has no license or agreement with Complainant authorizing Respondent
to use the STATE FARM INSURANCE mark, and
the WHOIS information identifies Respondent as “Thai
Connector c/o Siwat Thainugul.” Thus, Respondent has not established rights or
legitimate interests in the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii). See Tercent Inc. v. Lee Yi, FA 139720 (Nat. Arb. Forum
Respondent is using the disputed domain name, which is
confusingly similar to Complainant’s STATE FARM
INSURANCE mark, to advertise third-party websites that directly compete
with Complainant’s business. The Panel
finds that this is not a use in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(i), or a noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain
name pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii). See TM Acquisition Corp. v. Sign Guards, FA 132439 (Nat. Arb.
Forum
The Panel finds that Complainant has satisfied Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii).
Respondent is using the <lower-state-farm-insurance.com>
domain name, which is confusingly similar to Complainant’s STATE FARM INSURANCE mark, to redirect Internet
users to Respondent’s website that features links to third-party sites, some of
which compete with Complainant’s business.
The Panel finds that such use constitutes disruption of Complainant’s
business and is evidence of bad faith registration and use pursuant to Policy ¶
4(b)(iii). See S. Exposure
v. S. Exposure, Inc., FA 94864 (Nat. Arb. Forum
The Panel infers
that Respondent receives click-through fees for diverting Internet users to
third-party websites. Because
Respondent’s domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s STATE FARM INSURANCE mark, Internet users accessing Respondent’s
disputed domain name may become confused as to Complainant’s affiliation with
the resulting website. Thus,
Respondent’s use of the <lower-state-farm-insurance.com>
domain name constitutes bad faith
registration and use pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv). See G.D. Searle & Co.
v. Celebrex Drugstore, FA 123933 (Nat. Arb.
Forum
The Panel finds that Complainant has satisfied Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii).
Having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <lower-state-farm-insurance.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Honorable Karl V. Fink (Ret.), Panelist
Dated: December 23, 2008
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