Duck Bites Holdings, LLC v. mrs bruce lewis et al.
Claim Number: FA1502001604782
Complainant: Duck Bites Holdings, LLC of Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America.
Complainant Representative: Jaburg & Wilk, P.C. of Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America.
Respondent: mrs bruce lewis of kihei, Hawaii, US.
Respondent Representative: None
REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS
Registries: REVIEWS Registry
Registrars: GoDaddy.com, LLC
The undersigned certifies that he acted independently and impartially and to the best of his knowledge has no known conflict in serving as Examiner in this proceeding.
Jeffrey M. Samuels, as Examiner.
Complainant submitted: February 12, 2015
Commencement: February 13, 2015
Default Date: March 2, 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.
Complainant, Duck Bites Holdings, LLC, owns U.S. trademark registrations for the marks RIPOFF REPORT (No. 4360560) and RIP-OFF REPORT (No. 2958949), as used in connection with a website featuring ratings, reviews, and recommendations on products and services, including restaurants, wine, and food, for commercial purposes posted by users. Complainant’s licensee has operated a website at ripoffreport.com for over 16 years. This website is very popular and often mentioned in the news and on social media.
Complainant contends that the disputed domain name, ripoffreport.reviews, is identical or confusingly similar to a mark for which Complainant holds a valid national registration and is in current use, that Registrant has no legitimate rights or interests in the domain name, and that Registrant registered the domain name in bad faith and hopes to divert Complainant’s traffic and trade off of the goodwill that Complainant has acquired.
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.
The Examiner determines that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the RIPOFF REPORT and RIP-OFF REPORT marks and that Complainant holds a valid U.S. registration for each of these marks. The disputed domain name, ripoffreport.reviews, incorporates the marks in their entirety (the fact that the RIP-OFF REPORT mark includes a hyphen is of no consequence). The addition in the domain name of the merely descriptive term “reviews” does not negate the confusing similarity between the Complainant’s marks and the domain name.
The Examiner determines that Registrant has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. Complainant alleged that no such rights or interests exist and Respondent has presented no evidence to the contrary.
The Examiner concludes that the disputed domain name was registered or is being used in bad faith. The evidence indicates that, by using the domain name, Registrant has intentionally attempted to attract for commercial gain, Internet users to Registrant’s website or other on-line location by creating a likelihood of confusion with Complainant’s marks as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement of Registrant’s website or of a product or service on that site. The fact that Respondent’s domain name incorporates the term “reviews” is further evidence of the requisite bad faith, given that Complainant’s marks are used in connection with a site that features product and service consumer reviews.
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 name be SUSPENDED for the duration of the registration:
ripoffreport.reviews
Jeffrey M. Samuels, Examiner
Dated: March 2, 2015
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