Tractor Supply Co. of Texas, LP & Tractor
Supply Company v. wanrat chacharoen c/o wanrat
Claim Number: FA0906001268262
PARTIES
Complainant is Tractor Supply
Co. of Texas, LP & Tractor
Supply Company, (“Complainant”) represented by Justin McNaughton, of Waller
Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, Tennessee, USA. Respondent is wanrat chacharoen c/o
wanrat, (“Respondent”), Thailand.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <tractorsupplystore.us>,
registered with Name.com.
PANEL
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.
Sandra J. Franklin as Panelist.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum
(the “Forum”) electronically on June 12, 2009; the Forum received a hard copy
of the Complaint on June 15, 2009.
On June 15, 2009, Name.com confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that
the <tractorsupplystore.us> domain name is registered with Name.com and that Respondent is the
current registrant of the name. Name.com
has verified that Respondent is bound by the Name.com registration agreement
and has thereby agreed to resolve domain-name disputes brought by third parties
in accordance with the U. S. Department of Commerce’s usTLD Dispute Resolution
Policy (the “Policy”).
On June 19, 2009, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of
Administrative Proceeding (the “Commencement Notification”), setting a deadline
of July 9, 2009 by which Respondent could file a Response to the Complaint, was
transmitted to Respondent in compliance with Paragraph 2(a) of the Rules for
usTLD Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Rules”).
Having received no Response from Respondent, the Forum transmitted to
the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On July 17, 2009, pursuant to Complainant’s request to have the dispute
decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed Sandra J. Franklin as Panelist.
Having reviewed the communications records, the Administrative Panel
(the “Panel”) finds that the Forum has discharged its responsibility under
Paragraph 2(a) of the Rules. Therefore,
the Panel may issue its decision based on the documents submitted and in
accordance with the Policy, the Rules, the 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
1. Respondent’s <tractorsupplystore.us> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s TSC TRACTOR SUPPLY CO mark.
2.
Respondent does not have any rights or
legitimate interests in the <tractorsupplystore.us> domain name.
3.
Respondent registered and used the <tractorsupplystore.us>
domain name in bad faith.
B. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
FINDINGS
Complainants, Tractor Supply Co. of Texas, LP
& Tractor Supply Company, and its predecessor-in-interest have used the TSC
TRACTOR SUPPLY CO mark since 1938 in
connection with its retail farm and ranch supply business. Complainant has registered its TSC
TRACTOR SUPPLY CO mark with the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (Reg. No. 1,846,015 issued July
19, 1994).
Respondent registered the <tractorsupplystore.us>
domain name on May 13, 2009. The
disputed domain name resolves to a website that displays links to Complainant
and Complainant’s competitors.
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.”
In view of
Respondent's failure to submit a Response, the Panel shall decide this
administrative proceeding on the basis of the Complainant's undisputed
representations pursuant to Paragraphs 5(f), 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 the 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 the
Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark
in which the Complainant has rights; and
(2) the Respondent has no rights or legitimate
interests in respect of the domain name; and
(3) the domain name has been registered or is
being used in bad faith.
Given the similarity between the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution
Policy (“UDRP”) and the usTLD Policy, the Panel will draw upon UDRP precedent
as applicable in rendering its decision.
PRELIMINARY
ISSUE: CONSENT TO TRANSFER
Respondent has sent a letter to the National Arbitration Forum that has been labeled as “Other Correspondence.” Therein Respondent offers to transfer the disputed domain name. The Panel thus finds that Respondent has consented to transfer of the disputed domain names. Since Respondent has not contested the transfer of the disputed domain name but instead has agreed to transfer the domain name in question to Complainant, the Panel has decided to forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order an immediate transfer of the disputed domain name. See Boehringer Ingelheim Int’l GmbH v. Modern Ltd. – Cayman Web Dev., FA 133625 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 9, 2003) (transferring the domain name registration where the respondent stipulated to the transfer); see also Disney Enters., Inc. v. Morales, FA 475191 (Nat. Arb. Forum June 24, 2005) (“[U]nder such circumstances, where Respondent has agreed to comply with Complainant’s request, the Panel felt it to be expedient and judicial to forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order the transfer of the domain names.”)
DECISION
Accordingly, the relief sought by Complainant is GRANTED, and it is Ordered that the <tractorsupplystore.us> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Sandra J. Franklin, Panelist
Dated: July 28, 2009
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