Deutsche Lufthansa AG v. An Rui Cheng
Claim Number: FA1506001621938
Complainant: Deutsche Lufthansa AG of Frankfurt, Germany.
Complainant Representative: Rauschhofer Rechtsanwälte of Wiesbaden, Germany.
Respondent: An Rui Cheng of Shen Zhen, SZ, International, cn.
Respondent Representative: «cFirstName» «cMiddle» «cLastName»
REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS
Registries: Jiangsu Bangning Science & Technology Co.,Ltd.
Registrars: Chengdu West Dimension Digital Technology Co., Ltd.
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.
Piotr Nowaczyk, as Examiner.
Complainant submitted: June 1, 2015
Commencement: June 2, 2015
Default Date: June 17, 2015
Having reviewed the communications records, the Examiner finds that the 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:
No multiple complainants or respondents and no extraneous domain names require dismissal.
Findings of Fact:
The Complainant, Deutsche Lufthansa AG of Frankfurt, Germany, is one of the world leading airlines, which operates worldwide. It is a founder of “StarAlliance” which is the world’s first and largest airline alliance worldwide.
The Complainant holds a valid registration for the STAR ALLIANCE word mark (WIPO registration No. 674914, registration date: May 2, 1997).
The trademark STAR ALLIANCE is well-known throughout the world.
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.
IDENTICAL OR CONFUSINGLY SIMILAR
The Examiner finds that the Complainant met the standard set out in 1.2.6.1. of URS Procedure – the Complainant proved that it holds a valid trademark (WIPO registration No. 674914). Further, the Complainant confirmed that the registered trademark is in current use by presenting screenshots from the Complainant’s website (www.staralliance.com).
NO RIGHTS OR LEGITIMATE INTERESTS
According to the Complainant’s, the Respondent has no intellectual property rights in name “StarAlliance” nor it offers similar services to the Complainant’s. The Complainant has neither licensed nor authorized Respondent to use STAR ALLIANCE trademark or register a domain name containing this trademark.
In the absence of any counter arguments and evidences in support of the Respondent’s rights and legitimate interest, the Examiner finds that the second element under URS Procedure 1.2.6.2 has been satisfied.
BAD FAITH REGISTRATION AND USE
According to WhoIs database, the disputed domain names was registered on May 23, 2015 whereas the STAR ALLIANCE trademark was registered on May 2, 1997 and since then is commonly know all over the word. Therefore, the Respondent had known or should have known about the STAR ALLIANCE trademark. In the light of this, registering a domain name corresponding to a famous and reputable trademark, and subsequent passive holding of such a domain, thus preventing the trademark holder from registering such a domain, is viewed by the Examiner as bad faith.
The Respondent has not submitted any evidences confirming circumstances listed in URS Procedure 5.7. In the absence of any defense which might have affected the decision on this issue, it is found that the third element of the policy under URS Procedure 1.2.6.3 has been satisfied.
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.
Piotr Nowaczyk, Examiner
Dated: June 17, 2015
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