State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. ARG Contracting
Claim Number: FA1012001361128
Complainant is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“Complainant”), represented by Debra J. Smith of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Illinois, USA. Respondent is ARG Contracting (“Respondent”), Kansas, USA.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAMES
The domain names at issue are <statefarmready.com>, <statefarmready.net> and <statefarmready.org>, registered with NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
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.
Terry F. Peppard as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum electronically on December 1, 2010; the National Arbitration Forum received payment on December 1, 2010.
On December 1, 2010, NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC. confirmed by e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum that the <statefarmready.com>, <statefarmready.net> and <statefarmready.org> domain names are registered with NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the names. NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC. has verified that Respondent is bound by the NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC. registration agreement and has thereby agreed to resolve domain disputes brought by third parties in accordance with ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy”).
On December 2, 2010, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of December 22, 2010 by which Respondent could file a Response to the Complaint, via e-mail to all entities and persons listed on Respondent’s registration as technical, administrative, and billing contacts, and to postmaster@statefarmready.com, postmaster@statefarmready.net, and postmaster@statefarmready.org. Also on December 2, 2010, the Written Notice of the Complaint, notifying Respondent of the email addresses served and the deadline for a Response, was transmitted to Respondent via post and fax, to all entities and persons listed on Respondent’s registration as technical, administrative and billing contacts.
Having received no compliant Response from Respondent, the National Arbitration Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On December 27, 2010, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National Arbitration Forum appointed Terry F. Peppard as sole Panelist in this proceeding.
Respondent has not submitted a Response to the Complaint filed in this proceeding which is compliant with the requirements of the Policy. However, in e-mail messages addressed to the National Arbitration Forum, Respondent has stated as follows:
While my e-mail address is fraudulently listed under the registration information for statefarmready.org, I have not registered this domain and have no association with it or ARG Contracting.
* * * * *
We … tried to see what we could do to cancel these domains …. If there is any way we can transfer these over to your companies [sic] possession, we will do so immediate [sic]. Please … let us know what we can do to get this taken care of as quick as possible.
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" through submission of Electronic and Written Notices, as defined in Rule 1 and Rule 2. 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 a compliant response from Respondent.
Complainant requests that the domain names be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
A. Complainant makes the following assertions:
Complainant operates an insurance company, and conducts its insurance business under the STATE FARM service mark, which is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (Reg. No. 1,979,585, issued June 11, 1996).
Respondent registered the <statefarmready.com>, <statefarmready.net> and <statefarmready.org> domain names on August 30, 2010.
Each of the disputed domain names resolves to a website which is a blank template business profile page.
Respondent’s domain names <statefarmready.com>, <statefarmready.net> and <statefarmready.org> are confusingly similar to Complainant’s STATE FARM mark.
Respondent is not commonly known by the domain names <statefarmready.com>, <statefarmready.net> and <statefarmready.org>.
Respondent does not have any rights to or legitimate interests in the domain names <statefarmready.com>, <statefarmready.net> and <statefarmready.org>.
Respondent registered and uses the <statefarmready.com>, <statefarmready.net> and <statefarmready.org> domain names in bad faith.
B. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding which is compliant with the requirements of the Policy.
DISCUSSION
Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy requires that, in the ordinary course, Complainant must satisfactorily prove each of the following to obtain from a Panel an order that a domain name be transferred:
i. the domain name registered by Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights;
ii. Respondent has no rights to or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
iii. the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Paragraph 15(a) of the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (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.”
Further, Policy ¶ 3(a) provides for the transfer of a domain name registration upon the written instructions of the parties to a UDRP proceeding without the need for otherwise required findings and conclusions (see Malev Hungarian Airlines, Ltd. v. Vertical Axis Inc., FA 212653 (Nat. Ar. Forum Jan. 13, 2004; see also Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Morales, FA 475191 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jun. 24, 2005)).
DECISION
Respondent’s non-compliant response to the Complaint filed in this proceeding does not contest the material allegations of the Complaint, and, in particular it does not contest Complainant’s request that the disputed domain names be transferred to Complainant. Rather it specifically expresses its consent that the domain names be transferred to Complainant without delay. Thus the parties have effectively agreed in writing to a transfer of the subject domain names from Respondent to Complainant without the need for further proceedings.
It is therefore Ordered that the <statefarmready.com>, <statefarmready.net> and <statefarmready.org> domain names be forthwith TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Terry F. Peppard, Panelist
Dated: January 10, 2011
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