Claim Number: FA0903001251897
Complainant is Victoria's
Secret Stores Brand Management, Inc. (“Complainant”), represented by Melise R. Blakeslee, of McDermott Will & Emery LLP,
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN
NAME
The domain name at issue is <victoriassecretclothing.com>, registered with Godaddy.com, 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.
James A Crary as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum electronically on March 11, 2009; the National Arbitration Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on March 12, 2009.
On March 11, 2009, Godaddy.com, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum that the <victoriassecretclothing.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 March 16, 2009, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the "Commencement Notification"), setting a deadline of April 6, 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@victoriassecretclothing.com by e-mail.
Having received no response from Respondent, the National Arbitration Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On April 14, 2009, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National Arbitration Forum appointed James A Crary 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
<victoriassecretclothing.com> domain name is confusingly similar
to Complainant’s
2. Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the <victoriassecretclothing.com> domain name.
3. Respondent registered and used the <victoriassecretclothing.com> domain name in bad faith.
B. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
Complainant,
Respondent registered the <victoriassecretclothing.com> domain name on October 31, 2007. Respondent’s disputed domain name resolves to a website that displays links to third parties that market goods and services in competition with Complainant.
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.
Complainant has submitted evidence of its trademark
registrations with the USPTO for its
Respondent’s <victoriassecretclothing.com>
domain name includes Complainant’s mark, while omitting the apostrophe and
adding the descriptive and generic word “clothing,” which has an obvious
relation to Complainant’s retail clothing business. Neither of these alterations carries any
meaningful distinction. See 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); see also
Vance Int’l, Inc. v. Abend, FA 970871 (Nat. Arb.
Forum June 8, 2007) (finding that by adding the term “security” to the
complainant’s VANCE mark, which described the complainant’s business, the
respondent “very significantly increased” the likelihood of confusion with the
complainant’s mark). Moreover, the
addition of the top-level domain “.com” is without relevance in this
analysis. See Trip
Network Inc. v. Alviera, FA 914943 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar. 27, 2007)
(concluding that the addition of a gTLD, whether it be “.com,” “.net,” “.biz,”
or “.org,” is irrelevant to a Policy ¶ 4(a)(i)
analysis). 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. Complainant must successfully assert a sufficient prima facie case supporting its allegations before Respondent receives the burden of demonstrating its rights or legitimate interests. The Panel finds that Complainant has met its burden, and therefore Respondent must demonstrate its rights or legitimate interests under Policy ¶ 4(c). See 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).”); 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).
There is no evidence in the record, including the WHOIS
information, to conclude that Respondent is commonly known by the disputed
domain name. Moreover, Complainant
contends that Respondent is not a licensee of Complainant, and that Respondent
is not authorized to register or use the disputed domain name or the
Respondent’s disputed domain name resolves to a website that
features third-party advertisements, some of which lead to Complainant’s direct
competitors. The Panel infers that
Respondent receives click-through fees through this activity. Therefore, the Panel finds that Respondent
has failed to create 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 Bank of Am. Corp. v. Nw. Free Cmty. Access, FA 180704 (Nat. Arb.
Forum Sept. 30, 2003) (“Respondent’s demonstrated intent to divert Internet
users seeking Complainant’s website to a website of Respondent and for
Respondent’s benefit is not a bona fide offering of goods or services under
Policy ¶ 4(c)(i) and it is not a legitimate
noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii).”); see also Disney Enters., Inc. v. Kamble, FA 918556 (Nat. Arb. Forum
Mar. 27, 2007) (holding that the operation of a pay-per-click website at a
confusingly similar domain name was 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)).
The Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii) has been satisfied.
The Panel finds that Respondent has engaged in bad faith
registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii) by
disrupting Complainant’s business through the provision of competitive
third-party advertisements on the resolving website. See EBAY, Inc. v. MEOdesigns, D2000-1368 (WIPO Dec. 15, 2000) (finding
that the respondent registered and used the domain name <eebay.com> in
bad faith where the respondent has used the domain name to promote competing
auction sites); 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).
The Panel finds that Respondent has engaged in bad faith
registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv) by
intentionally creating a likelihood of confusion for commercial gain as to
Complainant’s affiliation with Respondent’s confusingly similar disputed domain
name and corresponding website. See
Allianz of Am. Corp. v. Bond,
FA 680624 (Nat. Arb. Forum June 2, 2006) (finding bad faith
registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv) where the respondent was diverting
Internet users searching for the complainant to its own website and likely
profiting); see also Univ. of Houston Sys. v.
Salvia Corp., FA 637920 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar.
21, 2006) (“Respondent is using the
disputed domain name to operate a website which features links to competing and
non-competing commercial websites from which Respondent presumably receives
referral fees. Such use for
Respondent’s own commercial gain is evidence of bad faith registration and use
pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv).”).
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 <victoriassecretclothing.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
James A Crary, Panelist
Dated: April 28, 2009
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