SPTC,
Inc. and SPTC
Claim Number: FA0901001243958
Complainant is SPTC,
Inc. and SPTC
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN
NAME
The domain name at issue is <esotheby.com>, registered with Fastdomain Inc.
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.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum electronically on January 22, 2009; the National Arbitration Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on January 26, 2009.
On February 10, 2009, Fastdomain Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum that the <esotheby.com> domain name is registered with Fastdomain Inc. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Fastdomain Inc. has verified that Respondent is bound by the Fastdomain 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 13, 2009, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the "Commencement Notification"), setting a deadline of March 5, 2009 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@esotheby.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 11, 2009, 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.
Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
A. Complainant makes the following assertions:
1. Respondent’s <esotheby.com> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s SOTHEBY’S mark.
2. Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the <esotheby.com> domain name.
3. Respondent registered and used the <esotheby.com> domain name in bad faith.
B. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
Complainant, SPTC, Inc. and SPTC Delaware, LLC, have been engaged in the auction business since 1744. Complainant has registered its SOTHEBY’S mark with numerous governmental trademark authorities worldwide, including with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (i.e. Reg. No. 1,638,329 issued March 19, 1991) and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (“CIPO”) (Reg. No. TMA 270,782 issued July 2, 1982).
Respondent registered the disputed <esotheby.com> domain name on March 3, 2008. The disputed domain name resolves to a website that offers directly competitive auction services.
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.
The Panel finds that Complainant’s registrations of the
SOTHEBY’S mark with the USPTO and the CIPO demonstrate Complainant’s rights in
the mark under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i). See Reebok Int’l Ltd. v.
Respondent’s <esotheby.com> domain name differs from Complainant’s SOTHEBY’S mark in the following manner: (1) the letter “e” has been added; (2) the apostrophe and letter “s” have been removed; and (3) the generic top-level domain “.com” has been added. The Panel notes that the removal of an apostrophe and addition of a generic top-level domain is irrelevant under the Policy. See Trip Network Inc. v. Alviera, FA 914943 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar. 27, 2007) (concluding that the affixation of a gTLD to a domain name is irrelevant to a Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) analysis); see also LOreal USA Creative Inc v. Syncopate.com – Smart Names for Startups, FA 203944 (Nat. Arb. Forum Dec. 8, 2003) (finding that the omission of an apostrophe did not significantly distinguish the domain name from the mark). Moreover, the removal of a letter and addition of a different letter likewise makes no distinction worthy of thwarting a finding of confusing similarity. See Google, Inc. v. DktBot.org, FA 286993 (Nat. Arb. Forum Aug. 4, 2004) (“The mere addition of a single letter to the complainant’s mark does not remove the respondent’s domain names from the realm of confusing similarity in relation to the complainant’s mark pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).”); see also Granarolo S.p.A. v. Dinoia, FA 649854 (Nat. Arb. Forum Apr. 17, 2006) (finding that the <granarolo.com> domain name was confusingly similar to the complainant’s registered G GRANAROLO mark). Therefore, the Panel finds that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s mark under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).
The Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(i)
has been satisfied.
Complainant has asserted that Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. Once Complainant sets forth a prima facie case supporting its allegations, as it has in this case, the burden shifts to Respondent to prove that it does have rights or legitimate interests under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii). 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 G.D. Searle v. Martin Mktg., FA 118277 (Nat. Arb. Forum Oct. 1, 2002) (“Because Complainant’s Submission constitutes a prima facie case under the Policy, the burden effectively shifts to Respondent. Respondent’s failure to respond means that Respondent has not presented any circumstances that would promote its rights or legitimate interests in the subject domain name under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii).”).
There is no evidence within the record to find that Respondent is commonly known by the disputed domain name. The WHOIS information lists Respondent as “Cosa Nostra c/o Paul Rijski,” and Complainant contends that Respondent does not have license or affiliation with Complainant to use the mark in any way. Therefore, the Panel finds that Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests under Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii). See M. Shanken Commc’ns v. WORLDTRAVELERSONLINE.COM, FA 740335 (Nat. Arb. Forum Aug. 3, 2006) (finding that the respondent was not commonly known by the <cigaraficionada.com> domain name under Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii) based on the WHOIS information and other evidence in the record); see also Am. W. Airlines, Inc. v. Paik, FA 206396 (Nat. Arb. Forum Dec. 22, 2003) (“Respondent has registered the domain name under the name ‘Ilyoup Paik a/k/a David Sanders.’ Given the WHOIS domain name registration information, Respondent is not commonly known by the [<awvacations.com>] domain name.”).
Complainant has argued that the disputed domain name resolves
to a website that offers directly competitive auction services. The Panel finds that Respondent has engaged
in a commercial activity that 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 Clear Channel Commc’ns, Inc. v. Beaty Enters.,
FA 135008 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 2, 2003) (finding that the respondent, as a
competitor of the complainant, had no rights or legitimate interests in a
domain name that utilized the complainant’s mark for its competing website); see also Glaxo Group Ltd. v. WWW Zban, FA 203164 (Nat. Arb. Forum Dec. 1, 2003) (finding that
the respondent was not using the domain name within the parameters of Policy ¶
4(c)(i) or (iii) because the respondent used the domain name to take advantage
of the complainant's mark by diverting Internet users to a competing commercial
site).
Complainant has alleged that
Respondent engaged in typosquatting.
This occurs when a domain name is registered with the intent of
maximizing the potential of common typographical errors—commonly seen in domain
names that misspell some element of a complainant’s mark. In this case, Respondent has removed the “’s”
element from Complainant’s SOTHEBY’S mark and added an “e” to the
beginning. The Panel finds this
nonsensical, misspelled form of Complainant’s mark qualifies the disputed
domain name as a typosquatted domain name, and therefore evidences Respondent’s
lack of rights and legitimate interests under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii). See IndyMac Bank
F.S.B. v. Ebeyer, FA 175292 (Nat. Arb. Forum Sept.
19, 2003) (finding that the respondent lacked rights and legitimate interests
in the disputed domain names because it “engaged in the practice of
typosquatting by taking advantage of Internet users who attempt to access
Complainant's <indymac.com> website but mistakenly misspell Complainant's
mark by typing the letter ‘x’ instead of the letter ‘c’”); see also Microsoft Corp. v.
Domain Registration
The Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii)
has been satisfied.
The disputed domain name, which has been found to be confusingly similar to Complainant’s mark, diverts Internet users to a strictly competing auction website. This use is disruptive of Complainant’s business. Therefore, the Panel finds that Respondent has engage in bad faith registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii). See Surface Prot. Indus., Inc. v. Webposters, D2000-1613 (WIPO Feb. 5, 2001) (finding that, given the competitive relationship between the complainant and the respondent, the respondent likely registered the contested domain name with the intent to disrupt the complainant's business and create user confusion); see also Jerie v. Burian, FA 795430 (Nat. Arb. Forum Oct. 30, 2006) (concluding that the respondent registered and used the <sportlivescore.com> domain name in order to disrupt the complainant’s business under the LIVESCORE mark because the respondent was maintaining a website in direct competition with the complainant).
Moreover, Respondent has created this confusingly similar
disputed domain name in order to receive commercial gain from its directly
competing business. By using
Complainant’s mark in the domain name, Respondent has created a likelihood of
confusion as to Complainant’s source, affiliation, endorsement, or sponsorship
of the disputed domain name resolving website.
This constitutes a textbook example of 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 Busy Body, Inc.
v. Fitness Outlet, Inc., D2000-0127 (WIPO Apr. 22, 2000) (finding bad faith
pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv) because the respondent and the complainant were
in the same line of business and the respondent was using a domain name
confusingly similar to the complainant’s FITNESS WAREHOUSE mark to attract
Internet users to its <efitnesswarehouse.com> domain name).
The Panel finds that Respondent’s aforementioned engagement
in typosquatting constitutes evidence of Respondent’s bad faith registration
and use under Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii). See Internet Movie Database,
Inc. v. Temme, FA 449837 (Nat. Arb. Forum
May 24, 2005) (“Respondent's registration of the domain names in dispute
constitutes bad faith because the domain names are merely typosquatted versions
of the [complainant’s] IMDB mark.); see
also Nextel Commc’ns Inc. v. Geer, FA 477183 (Nat. Arb. Forum July 15, 2005) (finding that the
respondent’s registration and use of the <nextell.com> domain name was in
bad faith because the domain name epitomized typosquatting in its purest form).
The Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii)
has been satisfied.
Having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <esotheby.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Tyrus R. Atkinson, Jr., Panelist
Dated: March 25, 2009
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