OANDA Corporation v. REDACTED FOR PRIVACY et al.
Claim Number: FA2101001930259
Complainant: OANDA Corporation, of New York, New York, United States of America.
Complainant Representative: Donahue Fitzgerald, of Oakland, California, United States of America.
Respondent: Registration Private of Scottsdale, Arizona, US.
Respondent Representative: Not applicable
REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS
Registries: Minds + Machines Group Limited
Registrars: GoDaddy.com, 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 Examiner in this proceeding.
Jeffrey M. Samuels, as Examiner.
Complainant submitted: January 29, 2021
Commencement: February 1, 2021
Default Date: February 17, 2021
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.
Since 1996, Complainant OANDA Corp. has been a worldwide leader in currency exchange services. Complainant has spent millions of dollars to advertise and promote its OANDA mark and its services. Complainant owns several registrations covering its OANDA mark, including in the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.
The disputed domain name, oanda.vip, resolves to a website where Respondent uses the OANDA mark and logo to impersonate Complainant and defraud visitors to create bogus commercial accounts.
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. Identical/Rights/Current Use
The Examiner finds that the disputed domain name is, for all intents and purposes identical to the OANDA mark. The domain name incorporates the mark in full adding only the generic TLD “.vip.” The Examiner further determines that Complainant has rights in the OANDA mark and that such mark is in current use.
2. Rights or Legitimate Interests
The Examiner finds that Complainant has met its burden in establishing that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. Complainant points out that it has not authorized Respondent to use the OANDA mark, to advertise OANDA services, or to assert that Respondent has any relationship with Complainant.
3. Bad faith registration and use
The Examiner finds that the disputed domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith. Complainant points out that its rights in the OANDA mark were established long prior to registration of the domain name and that, given the widespread use of the mark, “it is inconceivable that Respondent was not aware of the OANDA trademark given its efforts to illegally trade off it through this registration, its prominent display of the OANDA mark, and OANDA’s logo.” Moreover, as the OANDA mark is registered with the TMCH, “Respondent received actual notice of OANDA’s rights when the domain name was registered.” As Complainant asserts, the evidence indicates that “[t]he clear goal of the disputed domain name is to confuse potential OANDA customers by fraudulently impersonating OANDA via a phishing website created to steal personal and financial information from unsuspecting consumers.” Such confusion is exacerbated in this case through use of the “.vip” TLD since unsuspecting customers will mistakenly believe they are signing up for a VIP account with Complainant.
After reviewing 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:
oanda.vip
.
Jeffrey M. Samuels, Examiner
Dated: February 20, 2021
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