national arbitration forum

 

DECISION

 

Anheuser-Busch, LLC v. Johnny Bevers

Claim Number: FA1206001450803

 

PARTIES

Complainant is Anheuser-Busch, LLC (“Complainant”), represented by Alexander Garcia of Holland & Hart LLP, Colorado, USA.  Respondent is Johnny Bevers (“Respondent”), Louisiana, USA.

 

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME

The domain name at issue is <budlightplatinum.net>, registered with GoDaddy.com, LLC.

 

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 electronically on June 27, 2012; the National Arbitration Forum received payment on June 27, 2012.

 

On June 27, 2012, GoDaddy.com, LLC confirmed by e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum that the <budlightplatinum.net> domain name is registered with GoDaddy.com, LLC and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name.  GoDaddy.com, LLC has verified that Respondent is bound by the GoDaddy.com, 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 June 28, 2012, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of July 18, 2012 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@budlightplatinum.net.  Also on June 28, 2012, the Written Notice of the Complaint, notifying Respondent of the e-mail 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 response from Respondent, the National Arbitration Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.

 

On August 1, 2012, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National Arbitration Forum appointed James A. Carmody, Esq., 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" 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 any response from Respondent.

 

RELIEF SOUGHT

Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.

 

PARTIES' CONTENTIONS

A.  Complainant makes the following assertions:

 

Respondent’s <budlightplatinum.net> domain name, the domain name at issue, is confusingly similar to Complainant’s BUD LIGHT mark.

 

Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the domain name at issue.

 

Respondent registered and used the domain name at issue in bad faith.

 

B.  Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.

 

FINDINGS

A.   Respondent did not submit a formal Response in this case.

The Panel notes that Respondent consents to a transfer the disputed domain name in an email to the National Arbitration Forum dated June 28, 2012.

 

Preliminary Issue: Consent to Transfer

The Panel notes that Respondent consents to a transfer the disputed domain name in an e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum dated June 28, 2012. While not presented in the form of a formal Response, the Panel nonetheless considers this communication a valid consent to transfer the disputed domain name to Complainant.

 

Respondent consents to transfer the <budlightplatinum.net> domain name to Complainant.  However, after the initiation of this proceeding, GoDaddy.com, LLC placed a hold on Respondent’s account and therefore Respondent cannot transfer the disputed domain name while this proceeding is still pending.  As a result, the Panel finds that in a circumstance such as this, where Respondent has not contested the transfer of the disputed domain name but instead agrees to transfer the domain name in question to Complainant, the Panel will forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order an immediate transfer of the <budlightplatinum.net> domain nameSee 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 Malev Hungarian Airlines, Ltd. v. Vertical Axis Inc., FA 212653 (Nat Arb. Forum Jan. 13, 2004) (“In this case, the parties have both asked for the domain name to be transferred to the Complainant . . . Since the requests of the parties in this case are identical, the Panel has no scope to do anything other than to recognize the common request, and it has no mandate to make findings of fact or of compliance (or not) with the Policy.”); 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, it is Ordered that the <budlightplatinum.net> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.

 

 

 

James A. Carmody, Esq., Panelist

Dated:  August 3, 2012

 

 

 

 

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