UNICCO Service Company v.
Metropolis Corporation
Claim Number: FA0910001291417
PARTIES
Complainant is UNICCO Service Company, (“Complainant”) represented by Gary W. Smith, of Posternak
Blankstein & Lund LLP,
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <onecco.us>, registered with Godaddy.com,
Inc.
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.
James A. Carmody, Esq., as Panelist.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum
(the “Forum”) electronically on October 26, 2009;
the Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on October 27, 2009.
On October 27, 2009, Godaddy.com, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the
Forum that the <onecco.us> 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 the U. S. Department of Commerce’s usTLD Dispute Resolution
Policy (the “Policy”).
On October 30, 2009, a
Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the
“Commencement Notification”), setting a deadline of November 19, 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 November 25, 2009, pursuant to Complainant’s request to have the
dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed James A. Carmody,
Esq., 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 <onecco.us> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s ONECCO mark.
2.
Respondent does not have any rights or
legitimate interests in the <onecco.us>
domain name.
3.
Respondent registered and used the <onecco.us> domain name in bad faith.
B. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
FINDINGS
Complainant, UNICCO Service Company, operates
a janitorial, custodial and cleaning services; integrated facilities services;
maintenance services; and construction management services business. Complainant offers its variety of services
under its UNICCO mark, which it has registered with the United States Patent
and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (Reg. No. 2,346,380 issued May 2, 2000).
Respondent, Metropolis Corporation, registered
the dispute domain name on December 23, 2006.
The disputed domain name resolves to a website that mimics in part
Complainant’s website resolving from its <unicco.com> domain name, and
offering services that compete with Complainant.
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.
Identical and/or Confusingly Similar
The Panel finds
Complainant has established rights in the UNICCO mark under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) through its registration with the USPTO (Reg. No. 2,346,380 issued May 2, 2000).
Respondent’s <onecco.us> domain name is
confusingly similar to Complainant’s UNICCO mark. The disputed domain name contains
Complainant’s entire UNICCO mark, replacing the letter “u” with the letter “o”
and the letter “i” with the letter “e.”
These alterations result in a phonetically similar disputed domain name. Respondent’s disputed domain name also adds the country-code top-level domain
(“ccTLD”) “.us.” The Panel finds these
alterations fail to adequately distinguish the disputed domain name from
Complainant’s mark, thus finding confusing similarity under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i). See Am. Online, Inc. v. Peppler, FA 103437 (Nat. Arb. Forum Feb. 22,
2002) (finding the word “quest” and “crest” to be similar in sound and, thus, that the respondent’s <mapcrest.com> domain name and
the complainant’s MAP QUEST mark are
confusingly similar); see also VeriSign, Inc. v. VeneSign C.A., D2000-0303 (WIPO June 28, 2000)
(finding that the pronunciation and spelling between the domain name
<venesign.com> and the complainant’s mark, VERISIGN, are so close that
confusion can arise in the mind of the consumer); see also Tropar Mfg. Co. v. TSB, FA 127701 (Nat.
Arb. Forum Dec. 4, 2002) (finding that since the addition of the country-code
“.us” fails to add any distinguishing characteristic to the domain name, the
<tropar.us> domain name is identical to the complainant’s TROPAR mark).
The Panel finds
Complainant has satisfied Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).
Rights or Legitimate Interests
Complainant has
alleged that Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the
<onecco.us> domain name. The Panel finds Complainant made a sufficient
prima facie case. The burden shifts to Respondent to prove it
does have rights or legitimate interests under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii). Respondent’s failure to respond to the
Complaint allows the Panel to infer that Respondent does not have rights or
legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. However, the Panel will examine the record to
determine whether Respondent has rights or legitimate interests in the disputed
domain name under Policy ¶ 4(c). See Vanguard Group,
Inc. v. Collazo, FA 349074 (Nat. Arb. Forum Dec. 1, 2004) (finding
that because the respondent failed to submit a Response, “Complainant’s
submission has gone unopposed and its arguments undisputed. In the absence of a Response, the Panel
accepts as true all reasonable allegations . . . unless clearly contradicted by
the evidence.”); see also Domtar,
Inc. v. Theriault.,
FA 1089426 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 4, 2008) (“It is well established that, once a
complainant has made out a prima facie case
in support of its allegations, the burden shifts to respondent to show that it
does have rights or legitimate interests pursuant to paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the
[UDRP].”).
There is no evidence in the record demonstrating that Respondent owns any service marks or trademarks that reflect the <onecco.us> domain name. Therefore the Panel finds that Respondent does not have rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(i). See Meow Media Inc. v. Basil, FA 113280 (Nat. Arb. Forum Aug. 20, 2002 (finding that there was no evidence that Respondent was the owner or beneficiary of a mark that is identical to the <persiankitty.com> domain name); see also Pepsico, Inc. v. Becky, FA 117014 (Nat. Arb. Forum Sep. 3, 2002) (holding that because Respondent did not own any trademarks or service marks reflecting the <pepsicola.us> domain name, it had no rights or legitimate interests pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(i)).
Complainant asserts that Respondent has never been authorized to use the UNICCO mark. The WHOIS information lists the registrant as “Metropolis Corporation,” which bears no resemblance to the <onecco.us> domain name. Therefore, the Panel finds Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii). See Braun Corp. v. Loney, FA 699652 (Nat. Arb. Forum July 7, 2006) (concluding that the respondent was not commonly known by the disputed domain names where the WHOIS information, as well as all other information in the record, gave no indication that the respondent was commonly known by the disputed domain names, and the complainant had not authorized the respondent to register a domain name containing its registered mark); see also Tercent Inc. v. Lee Yi, FA 139720 (Nat. Arb. Forum Feb. 10, 2003) (stating “nothing in Respondent’s WHOIS information implies that Respondent is ‘commonly known by’ the disputed domain name” as one factor in determining that UDRP ¶ 4(c)(ii) does not apply).
Respondent uses the <onecco.us> domain name to resolve to a website that mimics Complainant’s website resolving from its <unicco.com> domain name and offers competing services. Respondent is attempting to pass itself off as Complainant in an effort to profit from its offering of competing services. The Panel finds that this use is not a bona fide offering of goods or services under Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii) or legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iv). See Yahoo! Inc. v. Web Master, FA 127717 (Nat. Arb. Forum Nov. 27, 2002) (finding that the respondent’s use of a confusingly similar domain name to operate a pay-per-click search engine, in competition with the complainant, was not a bona fide offering of goods or services); see also Dream Horse Classifieds v. Mosley, FA 381256 (Nat. Arb. Forum Feb. 8, 2005) (finding the respondent’s attempt to pass itself off as the complainant by implementing a color scheme identical to the complainant’s was evidence that respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name pursuant to UDRP ¶ 4(a)(ii)).
The Panel finds Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii) has been satisfied.
Registration and Use in Bad Faith
Respondent’s <onecco.us> domain name resolves to a website where Respondent offers services that compete with Complainant. The Panel finds Respondent’s use disrupts Complainant’s water system business, which constitutes bad faith use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii). See DatingDirect.com Ltd. v. Aston, FA 593977 (Nat. Arb. Forum Dec. 28, 2005) (“Respondent is appropriating Complainant’s mark to divert Complainant’s customers to Respondent’s competing business. The Panel finds this diversion is evidence of bad faith registration and use pursuant to UDRP ¶ 4(b)(iii).”); see also Marriott Int’l, Inc. v. MCM Tours, Inc., FA 444510 (Nat. Arb. Forum May 6, 2005) (“The Respondent is a travel agency and thus operates in the same business as the Complainant. The parties can therefore be considered as competitors. The Panel thus finds that the Respondent registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor, which constitutes evidence of registration and use in bad faith under UDRP 4(b)(iii).”).
Respondent uses the <onecco.us> domain name to resolve to a website that mimics Complainant’s website resolving from its <unicco.com> domain name and offers competing services. Respondent likely profits from this competing use. The Panel finds Respondent’s use of the disputed domain name constitutes bad faith use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv). See TM Acquisition Corp. v. Carroll, FA 97035 (Nat. Arb. Forum May 14, 2001) (finding bad faith where the respondent used the domain name, for commercial gain, to intentionally attract users to a direct competitor of the complainant); see also Am. Online, Inc. v. Miles, FA 105890 (Nat. Arb. Forum May 31, 2002) (“Respondent is using the domain name at issue to resolve to a website at which Complainant’s trademarks and logos are prominently displayed. Respondent has done this with full knowledge of Complainant’s business and trademarks. The Panel finds that this conduct is that which is prohibited by Paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the [UDRP] Policy.”).
The Panel finds Complainant has satisfied Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii).
DECISION
Having established all three elements required under the usTLD Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <onecco.us> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
James A. Carmody, Esq., Panelist
Dated: December 9, 2009
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