World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. v. Searchlight Technology
Claim Number: FA1403001549344
Complainant: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut, United States of America.
Complainant Representative:
Complainant Representative: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut, USA.
Respondent: Searchlight Technology of Dana Point, California, US.
Respondent Representative:
REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS
Registries: GURU Registry
Registrars: GoDaddy.com, LLC
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 Examiner in this proceeding.
Antonina Pakharenko-Anderson, as Examiner.
Complainant submitted: March 19, 2014
Commencement: March 19, 2014
Default Date: April 3, 2014
Having reviewed the communications records, the Examiner finds that the National Arbitration Forum has discharged its responsibility under URS Procedure Paragraphs 3 and 4 and Rule 4 of the Rules for the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (the "Rules") .
Complainant requests that the domain name be suspended for the life of the registration.
Clear and convincing evidence.
Procedural Findings:
This complaint and findings relate to the single domain <wwe.guru>. No multiple Complainants or Respondents are involved in this proceeding. No domain names are dismissed from this complaint.
Findings of Fact: Complainant is an integrated media organization, a recognized leader in global entertainment, and a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE) with a market capitalization of approximately USD$ 2.33 billion as of March 2014. Complainant owns numerous domestic and international registrations of a WWE series, the first one filed in 2002 in the United States, including: WWE – U.S. Reg. no. 2772683 registered on October 07, 2003 for services in the International Class (Nice Classification) 41. Complainant owns and uses the EEW marks for world-renowned retail and entertainment services, as well as a wide bevy of consumer products. WWE is committed to family-friendly content across all of its platforms including television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries in 30 languages, and reaches more than 500 million homes worldwide. Complainant is a global brand, headquartered in Stamford CT, USA, with offices around the world.
Complainant contends that Respondent’s domain name <wwe.guru> incorporates Complainant’s famous trademark, and was registered and is being used in bad faith by the Respondent who has no rights or legitimate interest in the domain name.
Respondent is Searchlight Technology of Dana Point, California, US. According to the records of the WHOIS service, Respondent registered the disputed domain name in February 2014. Respondent did not provide a response to the complaint in accordance with the URS rules of procedure.
Even though the Respondent has defaulted, URS Procedure 1.2.6, requires Complainant to make a prima facie case, proven by clear and convincing evidence, for each of the following three elements to obtain an order that a domain name should be suspended.
URS Procedure 1.2.6, requires Complainant to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, each of the following three elements to obtain an order that a domain name should be suspended.
Identical or confusingly similar (URS 1.2.6.1.)
The Examiner finds that the domain name <wwe.guru> fully incorporates the Complainant’s WWE mark. In addition, it is well accepted that the top level domain is irrelevant in assessing identity or confusing similarity, thus the “.guru” is of no consequence here. The Examiner finds that the domain name <wwe.guru> is identical to the Complainant’s WWE mark under URS 1.2.6.1. (i).
No rights or legitimate interests
To the best of the Complainant’s knowledge, the Respondent does not have any rights in the name WWE, nor is the Respondent commonly known by this name. Respondent has no connection or affiliation with Complainant and has not received any license or consent, express or implied, to use Complainant’s WWE marks in a domain name or otherwise. WWE does not sponsor or endorse the Respondent in any manner. The domain name points to a webpage listing links which Respondent appears to use to generate click through fees for Respondent’s personal financial gain. Such use does not constitute a bona fide offering of goods or services and wrongfully misappropriates Complainant’s mark’s goodwill. The Examiner finds that the Respondent has not established any rights or legitimate interests in the domain name <wwe.guru> under URS 1.2.6.2.
Bad faith registration and use
The domain name <wwe.guru> was registered and is being used in bad faith.
The domain name <wwe.guru> was registered in February, 2014, more than a decade after the Complainant WWE’s first mark was first registered in the same jurisdiction in which the Respondent operate. Thus, it may be stated that the Respondent was on constructive notice of the Complainant's registered trademark which may serve as the evidence of the bad faith. The Complainant further submits that the Respondent is using the domain name <wwe.guru> in bad faith by providing “payperclick” links to other third party sites to generate “payperclick” revenue from internet traffic that visits a webpage to which a domain name resolves wrongfully misappropriating Complainant’s mark’s goodwill. Thus, factoring that the Complainant’s holds the WWE trademark which is well-known for the public, that no response to the complaint having been filed, the Examiner finds such behavior to evidence Respondent’s bad faith registration and use under URS 1.2.6.3.
The Examiner finds that the complaint was neither abusive nor contained material falsehoods.
After reviewing the Complainant’s submissions, the Examiner determines that the Complainant has demonstrated all three elements of the URS by a standard of clear and convincing evidence; the Examiner hereby Orders the following domain names be SUSPENDED for the duration of the registration.
<wwe.guru>
Antonina Pakharenko-Anderson, Examiner
Dated: April 03, 2014
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