International Forest Products LLC v. wilkey willison
Claim Number: FA1904001839534
Complainant is International Forest Products LLC (“Complainant”), represented by David M. Magee of Donovan Hatem LLP, USA. Respondent is wilkey willison (“Respondent”), Nigeria.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <intforestproducts.com>, registered with PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com.
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.
Kenneth L. Port as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the Forum electronically on April 18, 2019; the Forum received payment on April 18, 2019.
On April 19, 2019, PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <intforestproducts.com> domain name is registered with PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com has verified that Respondent is bound by the PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com 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 April 22, 2019, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of May 13, 2019 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@intforestproducts.com. Also on April 22, 2019, 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, May 15, 2019, 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 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 is North America’s largest trader of forest product commodities, with trading history, marketing efforts, and business in more than 90 countries worldwide. In 2018, Complainant had over $2 billion in annual sales and a marketing budget of over $12 million. Complainant has common law rights in the INTERNATIONAL FOREST PRODUCTS mark through its long, exclusive, and continuous use of the mark. Respondent’s <intforestproducts.com> domain name is identical or confusingly similar to Complainant’s mark as it abbreviates “international” to the word “int,” deletes the spaces between words, and adds the generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) “.com” to Complainant’s mark.
Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <intforestproducts.com> domain name. Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name, nor has Complainant licensed or granted permission to Respondent to use the mark. Respondent also does not use the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services or legitimate noncommercial or fair use. Rather, Respondent uses the disputed domain name in connection with a phishing scheme.
Respondent registered and uses the <intforestproducts.com> domain name in bad faith. Respondent uses the disputed domain name to pass itself off as Complainant via email as well as on the resolving webpage in furtherance of a phishing scheme.
B. Respondent
Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding. Respondent registered the disputed domain name on Feb. 9, 2019.
The Panel finds that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s common law trademark; that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in or to the disputed domain name; and that Respondent has engaged in bad faith use and registration of the disputed domain name.
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 set forth in a complaint; however, the Panel may deny relief where a complaint contains mere conclusory or unsubstantiated arguments. See WIPO Jurisprudential Overview 3.0 at ¶ 4.3; see also eGalaxy Multimedia Inc. v. ON HOLD By Owner Ready To Expire, FA 157287 (Forum June 26, 2003) (“Because Complainant did not produce clear evidence to support its subjective allegations [. . .] the Panel finds it appropriate to dismiss the Complaint”).
The Panel finds that the disputed domain name, <intforestproducts.com>, is confusingly similar to Complainant’s valid and subsisting common law trademark, INTERNATIONAL FOREST PRODUCTS. Complainant has adequately plead its rights and interests in and to this common law trademark. Respondent arrives at the disputed domain name by merely adding a common abbreviation, “int” to words that are part of Complainant’s mark and adding a gTLD, “.com”. This is insufficient to distinguish the disputed domain name from Complainant’s trademark.
As such, the Panel finds that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s trademark.
The Panel further finds that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in or to the disputed domain name. Respondent has no right, permission or license to register the disputed domain name. Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name. Further, Respondent does not appear to use the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services or legitimate noncommercial or fair use. Rather, Respondent appears to use the disputed domain name in connection with a phishing scheme.
As such, the Panel finds that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in or to the disputed domain name.
The Panel also finds that Respondent has engaged in bad faith use and registration of the disputed domain name. Respondent apparently uses the resolving webpage and an email address associated with the disputed domain name to attempt to pass itself off as Complainant to intercept payments from Complainant’s customers. Using a disputed domain name to pass one’s self off as an employee of a complainant via email can demonstrate bad faith under Policy ¶¶ 4(b)(iii) and/or (iv). See Abbvie, Inc. v. James Bulow, FA 1701075 (Forum Nov. 30, 2016) (“Respondent uses the <abbuie.com> domain name to impersonate Complainant’s CEO. Such use is undeniably disruptive to Complainant’s business and demonstrates bad faith pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii), and/or Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv)”). Complainant provides the Panel the Declaration of Daniel Moore, alleging that Respondent uses an email address to pass itself off as Complainant to attempt to defraud consumers and a screenshot of an email to support this contention. See Compl. Annexes 2 and 4.
The Panel also finds that, given the totality of the circumstances, Respondent registered the disputed domain name with actual knowledge of Complainant’s prior rights and interests in this common law mark INTERNATIONAL FOREST PRODUCTS.
As such, the Panel finds that Respondent registered and uses the disputed domain name in bad faith under Policy ¶¶ 4(b)(iii) and (iv).
Having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be granted.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <intforestproducts.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Kenneth L. Port, Panelist
Dated: May 16, 2019
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