The Complainant is Dollar Financial Group, Inc., Berwyn, PA, USA ("Complainant"). The Respondent is William A. McNair, Wentzville, MO, USA ("Respondent").

The domain name at issue is "ELOAN-MART.COM", registered with Tucows.com.

The Panelist 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 the panelist in this proceeding.

On September 15, 2000, the Forum appointment Honorable Paul A. Dorf (Ret.) as Panelist.

Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum ("The Forum") electronically on 08/16/2000; The Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on 08/14/2000.

On 08/17/2000, Tucows.com confirmed by e-mail to The Forum that the domain name "ELOAN-MART.COM" is registered with Tucows.com and that the Respondent is the current registrant of the name.

On 08/21/2000, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the "Commencement Notification"), setting a deadline of 09/11/2000 by which Respondent could file a Response to the Complaint, was transmitted to Respondent via e-mail, post and fax, to all entities and persons listed on Respondent’s registration as technical, administrative and billing contacts, and to postmaster@eloan-mart.com by e-mail.

On September 15, 2000, pursuant to Complainant’s request to have the dispute decided by a Single Member panel, The Forum appointed Honorable Paul A. Dorf (Ret.) as Panelist.

On September 11, 2000, a Response to Complainant’s Domain Name Complaint was filed with The Forum.

On September 15, 2000, Claimant’s Additional Response was filed with the Forum.

All of these documents were received and reviewed by the Arbitrator prior to rendering this Decision.

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

A. Complainant

Complainant contends that Respondent ‘s second-level domain name ELOAN-MART.COM is confusingly similar to Complainant’s registered service mark and confusingly similar to Complainant’s own registered domain names which incorporate said mark. The Complainant also contends that the Respondent has no legitimate interest in the domain name and registered same in bad faith.

B. Respondent

The Respondent admits that while Complainant’s customers may be confused and go to Respondent’s website, the customers would find that one of Complainant’s products, "payday" loans, are not available on Respondent’s site. Respondent also contends that he has a legitimate interest in the domain name as he is in the mortgage lending business. Finally, Respondent states that he did not register the domain name in bad faith.

Complainant has been continuously using the mark LOAN MART® in interstate commerce since 1997. The Complainant's mark was granted registration by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on September 29, 1998 under serial number 75/342,261 and registration number 2,192,247, for consumer lending services.

The Complainant has spent millions of dollars advertising its consumer financial services. Complainant offers its services through its stores bearing the LOAN MART® mark, as well as online at its various websites including those incorporating the mark that is the subject of this Complainant.

Paragraph 4(a) of the ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Policy ("Policy") requires that the complainant must prove each of the following three elements to obtain an order that a domain name should be cancelled or transferred:

(1) the domain name registered by the Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights;

(2) the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and

(3) the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

The Complainant's registered service mark LOAN MART® and its domain names loanmart.org and loanmart.net are confusingly similar to the domain name registered by the Respondent. The Respondent merely added an "E" in front of the mark and inserted a hyphen (-) between the words "loan" and "mart", which leaves the Complainant’s mark the main focus of the domain name. See Quixtar Investments, Inc. v. Smithberger and QUIXTAR-IBO, D2000-0138 (WIPO Apr. 19, 2000) (finding that because the domain name <quixtar-sign-up.com> incorporates in its entirety the Complainant’s distinctive mark, <QUIXTAR>, the domain name is confusingly similar).

The Respondent is not generally known by the mark "ELOAN-MART", has made no commercial use of the mark, and has sold no goods or services under the mark . Claimant conducted an extensive search and discovered no evidence of the use of the mark by Respondent in any trade or business. Further, the Respondent is not in any way connected to the Complainant ans has no authorization to use its registered mark. See The Caravan Club v. Mrgsale, FA 95314 (Nat. Arb. Forum Aug. 30, 2000) (finding that the Respondent had no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name).

As the Complainant and Respondent are engaged in the money lending business, it is highly unlikely that the Respondent was not aware of the Complainant’s trademark registration and it’s reputation under the mark. Also, the Respondent admits having knowledge of the goods and services offered by the Complainant. See Deutsche Bank AG v. Diego-Arturo Bruckner, D2000-0277 (WIPO May 30, 2000) (holding that the Respondent should have known of the Complainant’s marks at the time of registration given the widespread use and fame of the Complainant’s "Deutsche Bank" mark).

As all three elements required by the ICANN Policy Rule 4(a) have been satisfied, it is the decision of this panelist that the requested relief be granted.

Accordingly, for all of the foregoing reasons, it is ordered that the domain name "ELOAN-MART.COM" be transferred from the Respondent to the Complainant.