MILIPOL v Bethany Doohaluk / Miles Technologies
Claim Number: FA1512001652814
Complainant is MILIPOL (“Complainant”), represented by Grégory Ingrand of CABINET BEAU DE LOMENIE, France. Respondent is Bethany Doohaluk / Miles Technologies (“Respondent”), New Jersey, USA.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAMES
The domain names at issue are <milipolparis.us> and <milipolqatar.us>, registered with Register.com, Inc.
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 Panelist in this proceeding.
Kenneth L. Port as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the Forum electronically on December 17, 2015; the Forum received payment on December 17, 2015.
On Dec 17, 2015, Register.com, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <milipolparis.us> and <milipolqatar.us> domain names are registered with Register.com, Inc. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the names. Register.com, Inc. has verified that Respondent is bound by the Register.com, Inc. registration agreement and has thereby agreed to resolve domain disputes brought by third parties in accordance with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s usTLD Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy”).
On December 18, 2015, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of January 7, 2016 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@milipolparis.us, postmaster@milipolqatar.us. Also on December 18, 2015, 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 Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On January 14, 2016, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed Kenneth L. Port 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 to the usTLD Dispute Resolution Policy (“Rules”). Therefore, the Panel may issue its decision based on the documents submitted and in accordance with the usTLD Policy, usTLD 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.
Complainant requests that the domain names be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
A. Complainant
Complainant has rights in the MILIPOL mark based on registration of the mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (e.g., Reg. No. 3,972,596, registered June 7, 2011). Respondent’s domains <milipolparis.us> and <milipolqatar.us> are confusingly similar to the MILIPOL mark as the domains merely add a geographic term and the country code top-level domain (“ccTLD”) “.us” to the MILIPOL mark. These differences are not sufficient to differentiate the domains from the MILIPOL mark.
Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domains. Respondent has not been commonly known by the disputed domain names or associated with the Complainant in any manner. Further, Complainant has exclusive rights in the MILIPOL trademark and any use by Respondent would be illegitimate.
Respondent registered or is using the disputed domain name in bad faith. Respondent’s bad faith is demonstrated through failing to resolve the disputed domains to an active website. Further, based on the longstanding registration of the MILIPOL marks and the use of geographic locations connected to Complainant and the MILIPOL mark, it is inconceivable that Respondent could have registered the disputed domain names without knowledge of Complainant’s rights in the mark.
B. Respondent
Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding. The disputed domain names were created on October 23, 2015. The Respondent’s representative did send the Forum and non-responsive Response that read in total as follows:
“If I don't hear back from my client by Monday, we will surrender the domains.
Per previous correspondence, we purchased these domains on their behalf.
I will contact you Monday.”
The Panel finds that counsel’s statement in the email quoted from above amounts to an acquiescence to the transfer of the disputed domain names. As such, the Panel will forgo the formal three factor analysis and order the immediate transfer of the disputed domain names.
Having established that the Respondent acquiesces to the transfer of the domain names, the Panel concludes that relief shall be granted.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <milipolparis.us> and<milipolqatar.us> domain names transferred from the Respondent to Complainant.
Kenneth L. Port, Panelist
Dated: January 15, 2016
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