Google LLC v. Joey Lyttle
Claim Number: FA2103001937627
Complainant: Google LLC of Mountain View, California, United States of America.
Complainant Representative: Cooley LLP of Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Respondent: Joey Lyttle of Ballymena, United Kingdom (GB).
REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS
Registries: Dot Scot Registry Limited
Registrars: Mesh Digital Limited
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.
Omar Haydar, as Examiner.
Complainant submitted: March 23, 2021
Commencement: March 25, 2021
Default Date: April 9, 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.
The complaint and findings relate to one domain <googlephotographer.scot>. There is one Complainant and one or more Respondent(s), and no domain names were dismissed from this Complaint.
The Respondent has registered the domain name <googlephotographer.scot>.
Complainant, Google LLC, is a leading global technology company and licensee of trademark google, which has been in use since at least the filing date of 1998.
Complainant has claimed that the domain name in question is identical to their protected word or mark.
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 registered domain name(s) is/are identical or confusingly similar to a word or mark for which the Complainant holds a valid national or regional registration and that is in current use.
2. Respondent has no legitimate right or interest to the domain name.
3. The domain name(s) was/were registered and are being used in bad faith.
The Examiner finds that Complainant has proven that the domain name is identical through evidence of the trademark registration. The Complainant’s trademark is recognized globally and registered in many jurisdictions for at least 2 decades and has been in use at least 23 years.
The Examiner further finds that Complainant has proven that Respondent has no legitimate right or interest to the domain name. The Complainant has neither licensed the trademark to the Respondent for use, nor has the Respondent made any claim to a legitimate right or interest to the name, whether by responding to this Complaint or vis-a-vis the content of their website.
The Examiner finds that the evidence proves the domain names were registered and are being used in bad faith. While the domain name could theoretically be utilized in a non breaching manner due to the possible commonality of the term, there is no evidence of any intent as such. Further, the evidence provided by the Complainant includes references within the Respondent’s sites to the intellectual property of Complainant. Concluding that the trademark is being utilized solely to attract and induce visitors to obtain products or services from this domain is reasonable, as the domain gives an automatic inference of affiliation to the entity holding the trademark, and would cause confusion amongst internet users into an assumption of an affiliation or relationship. (See Treeforms.com FA0010000095856)
After reviewing the Complainant’s submissions, the Examiner determines that the Complainant has demonstrated all three elements of the URS by a standard of clear and convincing evidence; the Examiner hereby Orders the following domain names be SUSPENDED for the duration of the registration.
<googlephotographer.scot>
Omar Haydar, Examiner
Dated: April 14, 2021
Click Here to return to the main Domain Decisions Page.
Click Here to return to our Home Page