DECISION

 

Dell Inc. v. Paul Turley / ITCLEAR

Claim Number: FA1911001869769

 

PARTIES

Complainant is Dell Inc. (“Complainant”), represented by Danae T. Robinson of Pirkey Barber PLLC, Texas, USA.  Respondent is Paul Turley / ITCLEAR (“Respondent”), United Kingdom.

 

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME

The domain name at issue is <dell-factory-clearance.com>, registered with PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com.

 

PANEL

The undersigned certifies that he has acted independently and impartially and to the best of his or her knowledge has no known conflict in serving as Panelist in this proceeding.

 

Sebastian M W Hughes as Panelist.

 

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Complainant submitted a Complaint to the Forum electronically on November 4, 2019; the Forum received payment on November 4, 2019.

 

On November 6, 2019, PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <dell-factory-clearance.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 November 7, 2019, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of December 2, 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@dell-factory-clearance.com.  Also on November 7, 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.

 

A timely Response was received and determined to be complete on November 27, 2019.

 

A timely Additional Submission was received from Complainant on December 2, 2019.

 

On December 12, 2019, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed Sebastian M W Hughes 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.

 

RELIEF SOUGHT

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

 

PARTIES' CONTENTIONS

A. Complainant

The Complainant is a world leader in computers, marketed and sold under the well-known DELL trademark (the “Trademark”).

 

The domain name is resolved to Respondent’s website at “www.itcsales.co.uk”, a website featuring prominently the Trademark and Complainant’s corporate livery, and offering for sale and selling both Complainant’s computer products and those of its competitors.

 

The disputed domain name is confusingly similar or identical to the Trademark, the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name, and the disputed domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith.

 

B. Respondent

Respondent is a licensed Dell Technologies (formerly Dell EMC until recently) Authorized Partner and is allowed according to the Dell Partner Program Portal to display the Trademark on Respondent’s website.

 

Respondent sources genuine End of Lifecycle (EOL) products bearing the Trademark from Dell Authorized Distributors.

 

C. Additional Submissions

Respondent agreed not to register or use any domain name incorporating the Trademark as a condition of its participation in Complainant’s Partner Program.

 

FINDINGS

Complainant has established all the elements entitling it to transfer of the domain names.

 

DISCUSSION

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.

 

Identical and/or Confusingly Similar

The domain name is confusingly similar to the Trademark. It incorporates the entirety of the Trademark together with the words “factory” and “clearance”.

 

Rights or Legitimate Interests

Although Respondent’s website adequately discloses the relationship between Respondent and Complainant (including stating that Respondent is a Dell EMC Authorized Partner), Respondent does not meet the Oki Data requirements, as Respondent’s website sells not just Complainant’s computer products under the Trademark, but also a wide range of computer products produced by Complainant’s competitors, under the competitors’ well-known trademarks.

 

Registration and Use in Bad Faith

In light of Respondent’s use of the domain name to offer for sale and sell via Respondent’s website not just Complainant’s computer products, but also those of its competitors, the Panel finds that bad faith registration and use has been made out under paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy. Further grounds in support of a finding of bad faith have been made out by virtue of Respondent’s breach of the terms of Complainant’s Partner Program.

 

 

DECISION

Having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.

 

Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <dell-factory-clearance.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.

 

 

Sebastian M W Hughes, Panelist

Dated:  December 16, 2019

 

 

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