Thor Equities, LLC v. Barbara Paladine / Sheild Alarm Systems, Inc
Claim Number: FA1805001785756
Complainant is Thor Equities, LLC (“Complainant”), represented by Theodore R. Remaklus of Wood, Herron & Evans, LLP, Ohio, USA. Respondent is Barbara Paladine / Sheild Alarm Systems, Inc (“Respondent”), New Jersey, USA.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <thorequlties.com>, registered with Google LLC.
The undersigned certifies that he has acted independently and impartially and, to the best of his knowledge, has no known conflict in serving as Panelist in this proceeding.
The Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.) as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the Forum electronically on May 9, 2018; the Forum received payment on May 9, 2018.
On May 9, 2018, Google LLC confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <thorequlties.com> domain name is registered with Google LLC and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Google LLC has verified that Respondent is bound by the Google LLC registration agreement and has thereby agreed to resolve domain disputes brought by third parties in accordance with ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy”).
On May 10, 2018, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of May 30, 2018 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@thorequlties.com. Also on May 10, 2018, 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 June 5, 2018, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed the Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.) 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 for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Rules") "to employ reasonably available means calculated to achieve actual notice to Respondent" through submission of Electronic and Written Notices, as defined in Rule 1 and Rule 2. Therefore, the Panel may issue its decision based on the documents submitted and in accordance with the ICANN Policy, ICANN 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 name be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
A. Complainant
Complainant, Thor Equities, LLC, is an internationally known organization specializing in the development, leasing and management of property. Complainant has rights in the THOR EQUITIES (e.g. Reg. No. 3,049,147, registered Jan. 24, 2006), and THOR (e.g. Reg. No. 11,583,028, registered 2013) marks based upon its registration of the marks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (“OHIM”), respectively. Respondent’s <thorequlties.com> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s THOR EQUITIES mark, as Respondent omits the space, replaces the letter “i” with the letter “l” and appends the generic top-level domain name (“gTLD”) “.com”. Respondent’s domain name is also confusingly similar to Respondent’s THOR mark, as it is fully comprised of the mark, the descriptive term “EQULTIES”, and the “.com” gTLD.
Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <thorequlties.com> domain name. Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name, nor has complainant authorized or licensed Respondent to use its marks. Respondent does not use the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods and services or a legitimate non-commercial or fair use. Rather, Respondent fails to make active use of the disputed domain name which only resolves to a website that contains the message “This site can’t be reached.” Moreover, Respondent utilizes the domain in connection with an email phishing scheme.
Respondent registered and is using the <thorequlties.com> domain name in bad faith. Respondent attempts to disrupt Complainant’s business and divert users to the disputed domain name for commercial gain. Respondent also uses the disputed domain name in furtherance of a phishing scam. Further, Respondent knew of Complainant’s rights in the THOR EQUITIES mark at the time Respondent registered the disputed domain name.
B. Respondent
Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
Complainant, Thor Equities, LLC, owns, develops, leases, and manages properties throughout the United States and internationally. Complainant began operating in the United States under the service mark THOR EQUITIES in 1985.
Complainant has rights in the THOR EQUITIES (e.g. Reg. No. 3,049,147, registered Jan. 24, 2006), and THOR (e.g. Reg. No. 11,583,028, registered 2013) marks based upon its registration of the marks with the USPTO and the OHIM, respectively. Respondent’s <thorequlties.com> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s THOR EQUITIES and THOR marks.
Respondent registered the disputed domain name on May 3, 2018.
Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <thorequlties.com> domain name. Respondent’s domain name only resolves to a website that contains the message “This site can’t be reached.” Respondent utilizes the domain in connection with an email phishing scheme in an effort to obtain sensitive and confidential information.
Respondent registered and is using the <thorequlties.com> domain name in bad faith.
Paragraph 15(a) of the Rules instructs this Panel to "decide a complaint on the basis of the statements and documents submitted in accordance with the Policy, these Rules and any rules and principles of law that it deems applicable."
Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy requires that 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 Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights; and
(2) 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.
In view of Respondent's failure to submit a response, the Panel shall decide this administrative proceeding on the basis of Complainant's undisputed representations pursuant to paragraphs 5(f), 14(a) and 15(a) of the Rules and draw such inferences it considers appropriate pursuant to paragraph 14(b) of the Rules. The Panel is entitled to accept all reasonable allegations and inferences set forth in the Complaint as true unless the evidence is clearly contradictory. See Vertical Solutions Mgmt., Inc., FA 95095 (Forum July 31, 2000) (holding that the respondent’s failure to respond allows all reasonable inferences of fact in the allegations of the complaint to be deemed true); see also Talk City, Inc., D2000-0009 (WIPO Feb. 29, 2000) (“In the absence of a response, it is appropriate to accept as true all allegations of the Complaint.”).
Complainant has rights in the THOR EQUITIES and THOR marks under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) through registration with the USPTO and the OHIM, respectively. Registration of a mark with a governmental authority, such as the USPTO or OHIM, is sufficient to establish rights in that mark. See Liberty Global Logistics, LLC, FA 1738536 (Forum Aug. 4, 2017) (stating, “Registration of a mark with the USPTO sufficiently establishes the required rights in the mark for purposes of the Policy.”); see also NIKE, Inc., and Nike Innovate, C.V., FA 1732458 (Forum July 3, 2017) (“Registration with the OHIM is sufficient to demonstrate rights in a mark under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).”).
Respondent’s <thorequlties.com> domain name is confusingly similar to the THOR EQUITIES mark. The domain name differs only by the omission of a space, the replacement of the letter “I” with the letter “L” and the addition of the “.com” gTLD. Respondent’s <thorequlties.com> domain name is confusingly similar to the THOR mark, as Respondent merely adds the descriptive term “EQULTIES” and the “.com” gTLD to Complainant’s THOR mark.
Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <thorequlties.com> domain name. Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name. Complainant has not authorized Respondent to use the THOR or the THOR EQUITIES marks. The WHOIS information of record identifies the Registrant of the domain name as “Barbara Paladine/Sheild Alarm Systems, Inc.”
Respondent has failed to use the <thorequlties.com> domain name for a bona fide offering of goods or services or for a legitimate non-commercial or fair use. Instead, Respondent uses the website in furtherance of an email phishing scheme. Use of a disputed domain name to phish for users’ personal information does not show rights or legitimate interests per Policy ¶¶ 4(c)(i) and (iii). See Microsoft Corporation, FA 1661030 (Forum Apr. 4, 2016) (finding the respondent’s use of the disputed domain names to send fraudulent emails purportedly from agents of complainant to be neither a bona fide offering of goods or services under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i), nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii)).
Respondent’s use of the <thorequlties.com> domain name in furtherance of a phishing scam shows bad faith registration and use of the domain name. See Zoetis Inc. and Zoetis Services LLC, FA 1623601 (Forum July 14, 2015) (“Respondent’s attempt to use the <zoietis.com> domain name to phish for personal information in fraudulent emails also constitutes bad faith pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii).”).
Respondent registered the <thorequlties.com> domain name with actual knowledge of the Complainant’s THOR EQUITIES and THOR marks. Therefore Respondent registered the domain name in bad faith under Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii).
Complainant having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <thorequlties.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
The Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.), Panelist
Dated: June 18, 2018
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