MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. v. Phil Zaveri
Claim Number: FA2107001956994
Complainant is MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. (“Complainant”), represented by Susan Meyer of Gordon & Rees, LLP, California, USA. Respondent is Phil Zaveri (“Respondent”), Illinois, USA.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <medimpactpartners.com>, registered with 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 Panelist in this proceeding.
Richard Hill as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the Forum electronically on July 28, 2021; the Forum received payment on July 28, 2021.
On July 29, 2021, Godaddy.Com, Llc confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <medimpactpartners.com> domain name is registered with Godaddy.Com, Llc and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Godaddy.Com, Llc has verified that Respondent is bound by the Godaddy.Com, 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 July 30, 2021, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of August 19, 2021 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@medimpactpartners.com. Also on July 30, 2021, 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. Respondent did however send an email to the Forum, see below.
On August 23, 2021, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed Richard Hill 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 states it has been lowering cost, improving care, and delivering better solutions for healthcare plans for the past 30 years. Complainant is the largest independent pharmacy benefit solutions company and invests millions of dollars in clinical programs, technology, operations, and analytics. Serving more than 55 million consumers in the United States, Complainant provides health plans for businesses, government programs, and those who are self-employed. Complainant has rights in the MEDIMPACT mark through its registration in the United States in 2007.
Complainant alleges that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to its MEDIMPACT mark, only differing by adding the generic term “partners” and the “.com” generic top-level domain (“gTLD”).
According to Complainant, Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name as it is not commonly known by the disputed domain name and is neither an authorized user or licensee of the MEDIMPACT mark. Additionally, Respondent does not use the disputed domain name for any bona fide offer of goods or services, nor for any legitimate noncommercial or fair use. Instead, Respondent uses the disputed domain name to host a parked website offering hyperlinks to products which compete with Complainant.
Further, says Complainant, Respondent registered and uses the disputed domain name in bad faith. The disputed domain name resolves to a website offering hyperlinks to products and services which compete directly with Complainant’s business.
B. Respondent
Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding. In its email to the Forum, Respondent states in pertinent part (emphases added):
I have reached out to [Complainant’s] representation who are copied on this email thread. I have let them know that I’m willing to transfer the domain to them. I have requested a 30 day period to do so, in order to allow for adequate time to transfer emails and communicate with current contacts a new email domain. The domain was not being used in “bad faith” as stated in the complaint. It was simply going to be used for a holding company for a legitimate business venture. The domain was never intended for any marketing purposes or even for a website, only for email. At the time that I bought the domain, a few months ago, I were [sic] not aware of any trade marks.
To be clear I do not have the time or the resources to take part in any sort of arbitration. Please let me know next steps so I can transfer the domain name as stated in the remedy of the complaint. If there is a cost to transferring the domain then Med Impact will need to pay for it.
For the reasons set forth below, the Panel will not make any findings of fact.
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.
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."
In the present case, the parties have both asked for the domain name to be transferred to the Complainant. In accordance with a general legal principle governing arbitrations as well as national court proceedings, this Panel holds that it cannot act nec ultra petita nec infra petita, that is, that it cannot issue a decision that would be either less than requested, nor more than requested by the parties. Since the requests of the parties in this case are identical, the Panel has no scope to do anything other than to recognize the common request, and it has no mandate to make findings of fact or of compliance (or not) with the Policy.
See Malev Hungarian Airlines, Ltd. v. Vertical Axis Inc., FA 212653 (Forum Jan. 13, 2004); see also Boehringer Ingelheim Int’l GmbH v. Modern Ltd. – Cayman Web Dev., FA 133625 (Forum Jan. 9, 2003) (transferring the domain name registration where the respondent stipulated to the transfer); see also Disney Enters., Inc. v. Morales, FA 475191 (Forum June 24, 2005) (“[U]nder such circumstances, where Respondent has agreed to comply with Complainant’s request, the Panel felt it to be expedient and judicial to forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order the transfer of the domain names.”).
For the reasons set forth above, the Panel will not analyze this element of the Policy.
For the reasons set forth above, the Panel will not analyze this element of the Policy.
For the reasons set forth above, the Panel will not analyze this element of the Policy.
Given the common request of the Parties, it is Ordered that the <medimpactpartners.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Richard Hill, Panelist
Dated: August 23, 2021
Click Here to return to the main Domain Decisions Page.
Click Here to return to our Home Page