Radisson Hotels International, Inc. v. Gao Li, et al.
Claim Number: FA1703001719766
Complainant: Radisson Hotels International, Inc., of Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States of America.
Complainant Representative: None
Respondent: Gao Sheng Li, of Hangzhou, Zhejiang, International, China.
Respondent Representative: None
REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS
Registries: First Registry Limited
Registrars: Alibaba Cloud Computing Ltd. d/b/a HiChina (www.net.cn)
The undersigned certifies that he has 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: March 2, 2017
Commencement: March 6, 2017
Default Date: March 21, 2017
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.
As of December 2016, Complainant Radisson Hotels International, Inc. and its licensees operated 469 hotels worldwide under the RADISSON trademark. Complainant owns more than 300 registrations for the RADISSON trademark around the world and 215 registrations for the mark RADISSON BLU.
The disputed domain name, radisson-blu-kashgar.win, was registered on November 11, 2016. The domain name resolves to a website that appears to be an official site for Complainant’s RADISSON BLU Hotel in Kashgar, China, but is not. The disputed site is intended to trick internet users to book hotel rooms through Respondent, who then charges Complainant a fee for these bookings.
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.
1. The Examiner finds that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the RADISSON and RADISSON BLU trademarks. The disputed domain name incorporates in full the RADISSON BLU mark, adding only the descriptive geographical term “kashgar” and the generic top-level “.win.” The evidence indicates that Complainant owns valid national or regional registrations for the RADISSON and RADISSON BLU marks and that the marks are in current use.
2. The Examiner finds that Complainant has met its burden of establishing that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. Respondent has no legitimate connection to Complainant or authorization to use Complainant’s marks. Respondent’s unauthorized use of the RADISSON BLU mark in its domain name for a site that arranges bookings for the RADISSON BLU Kashgar hotel constitutes neither a use of the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name.
3. The Examiner finds that the disputed domain was registered and is being used in bad faith. Given Complainant’s extensive and longstanding use of its marks around the world, it may reasonably be assumed that Respondent was aware of such marks at the time he registered the disputed domain name. The Examiner notes that Complainant’s RADISSON mark was recorded with the Trademark Clearinghouse, so Respondent was required to click on an Acknowledgment of Trademark Claim when registering the domain name. The evidence further indicates that Respondent registered the domain name with the intent to profit from its use, by creating a likelihood of confusion as to the source or sponsorship of its site and of the services offered therein.
After reviewing the Complainant’s submissions, the Examiner determines that
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:
radisson-blu-kashgar.win
Jeffrey M. Samuels, Examiner
Dated: March 23, 2017
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