DECISION

 

Citadel LLC and its related entity CE TM Holdings LLC v. Groovy / Solutions LTD LTD

Claim Number: FA2110001970568

 

PARTIES

Complainant is Citadel LLC and its related entity CE TM Holdings LLC (“Complainant”), represented by Laura M. Franco of Winston & Strawn LLP, California, USA.  Respondent is Groovy / Solutions LTD LTD (“Respondent”), Dominica.

 

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAMES

The domain names at issue are <citadel-ex.com> and <citadelex.co>, registered with Namesilo, Llc.

 

PANEL

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.

 

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Complainant submitted a Complaint to the Forum electronically on October 26, 2021; the Forum received payment on October 26, 2021.

 

On October 26, 2021, Namesilo, Llc confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <citadel-ex.com> and <citadelex.co> domain names are registered with Namesilo, Llc and that Respondent is the current registrant of the names. Namesilo, Llc has verified that Respondent is bound by the Namesilo, 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 October 28, 2021, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of November 17, 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@citadel-ex.com, postmaster@citadelex.co.  Also on October 28, 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.

 

On November 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.

 

RELIEF SOUGHT

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

 

PARTIES' CONTENTIONS

A. Complainant

Complainant states that it was founded in 1990 and has since grown to be one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated alternative investment institutions. Complainant is widely regarded as an industry expert and leader, and its opinions on all forms of financial markets, financial services, and investment vehicles are highly regarded. It employs more than 1,250 professionals who are located in offices worldwide and it manages many billions of U.S. dollars in assets. Its investors include endowments, pension funds, foundations and other institutional investors, as well as high net worth individuals. Complainant is also a leading market maker, providing liquidity and trade execution to retail and institutional clients, and it is a leader in investment management technology. Complainant has rights in the CITADEL mark through its registration of the mark in the United States in 2007.

 

Complainant alleges that the disputed domain names are virtually identical and confusingly similar to Complainant’s mark because they incorporate the CITADEL mark in its entirety and merely add the terms “-ex” or “ex”, and either the “.com” generic top level domain (gTLD) or the “.co” country code top level domain (ccTLD).

 

According to Complainant, Respondent has no legitimate interests in the disputed domain names. Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain names and Complainant has not authorized or licensed Respondent any rights in the CITADEL mark.  Additionally, Respondent does not use the disputed domain names for any bona fide offering of goods or services or legitimate noncommercial or fair use. Instead, the disputed domain names resolve to identical web pages that offer services that compete with those of Complainant.

 

Further, says Complainant, Respondent registered and uses the disputed domain names in bad faith because they resolve to web pages that offer competing services: Respondent registered the disputed domain name in order to disrupt Complainant’s business and divert customers for commercial gain. Further, Respondent registered the disputed domain name with actual knowledge of Complainant’s rights in the CITADEL mark.

 

B. Respondent

Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.

 

FINDINGS

Complainant has rights in the mark CITADEL dating back to 2007 and uses it to market investment services.

 

The disputed domain names were registered on September 27, 2021.

 

Complainant has not licensed or otherwise authorized Respondent to use its mark.

 

The disputed domain names resolve to identical web pages that offer services that compete with those of Complainant.

 

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.

 

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”).

 

PRELIMINARY ISSUE: MULTIPLE RESPONDENTS

In the instant proceedings, Complainant has alleged that the entities which control the domain names at issue are effectively controlled by the same person and/or entity, which is operating under several aliases. Paragraph 3(c) of the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Rules”) provides that a “complaint may relate to more than one domain name, provided that the domain names are registered by the same domain name holder.” 

 

The Panel finds that the domain names are under common control as the websites displayed at these domains appear to be identical. Further, both domain names were registered with the same registrar, on the same day. Finally, the registrant used the same privacy service for both domain names. This is sufficient to find that the domain names were registered by the same domain name holder. See The Valspar Corporation v. Zhou Zhiliang / zhouzhiliang / Zhiliang Zhou / Eric Chow / Visspa Ltd., FA100800133934 (Forum Sept. 28, 2010); see also BBY Solutions, Inc. v. White Apple / Dev Kumar, FA1805001787251 (Forum June 20, 2018).

 

Consequently, the Panel will rule on both contested domain names, and the registrants are collectively referred to as “Respondent”.

 

Identical and/or Confusingly Similar

The disputed domain names incorporate Complainant’s CITADEL mark in its entirety and merely add the terms “-ex” or “ex”, and either the “.com” generic top level domain (gTLD) or the “.co” country code top level domain (ccTLD). The addition of a generic or descriptive phrase with or without a hyphen and gTLD fails to sufficiently distinguish a disputed domain name from a mark per Policy ¶ 4(a)(i). See Microsoft Corporation v. Thong Tran Thanh, FA 1653187 (Forum Jan. 21, 2016) (determining that confusing similarity exists where [a disputed domain name] contains Complainant’s entire mark and differs only by the addition of a generic or descriptive phrase and top-level domain, the differences between the domain name and its contained trademark are insufficient to differentiate one from the other for the purposes of the Policy); see also Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. v. XINXIU ZENG / haimin liang, FA 1736365 (Forum  July 19, 2017) (finding that the addition of punctuation—specifically, a hyphen—did not sufficiently distinguish the disputed domain name from complainant’s registered mark); see also Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association v. Shi Lei aka Shilei, FA 1784643 (Forum June 18, 2018) (“A TLD (whether a gTLD, sTLD or ccTLD) is disregarded under a Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) analysis because domain name syntax requires TLDs.”). Therefore, the Panel finds that the disputed domain names are confusingly similar to Complainant’s mark per Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).

 

Rights or Legitimate Interests

Complainant has not authorized or licensed to Respondent any rights in the CITADEL mark. Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain names: absent a reply, WHOIS information may be used to determine whether a respondent is commonly known by the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii). See Amazon Technologies, Inc. v. LY Ta, FA 1789106 (Forum June 21, 2018) (concluding a respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in a disputed domain name where the complainant asserted it did not authorize the respondent to use the mark, and the relevant WHOIS information indicated the respondent is not commonly known by the domain name). Here, the WHOIS information for the disputed domain names lists the registrant as “Groovy / Solutions LTD LTD”. Therefore, the Panel finds that Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain names per Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii).

 

The resolving websites, which are identical, offer services that compete with those of Complainant. Where the Respondent uses a domain to redirect users to competing services, the Panel may find the respondent fails to make a bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use per Policy ¶¶ 4(c)(i) or (iii). See Coachella Music Festival, LLC v. josh greenly / All Access Tickets, FA1507001629217 (Forum Aug. 10, 2015) (finding that the respondent had failed to provide a bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name as required under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i) and Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii), where the respondent was using the disputed domain name to host a web page that featured links to services that competed with those of the complainant); see also See General Motors LLC v. MIKE LEE, FA 1659965 (Forum Mar. 10, 2016) (finding that “use of a domain to sell products and/or services that compete directly with a complainant’s business does not constitute a bona fide offering of goods or services pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(i) or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii)”). Therefore, the Panel finds that Respondent fails to use the disputed domain names to make a bona fide offering of goods or services or legitimate noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i) or (iii). And the Panel finds that Complainant does not have rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.

 

Registration and Use in Bad Faith

Respondent (who did not reply to Complainant’s contentions) has not presented any plausible explanation for its use of Complainant’s mark. In accordance with paragraph 14(b) of the Rules, the Panel shall draw such inferences from Respondent’s failure to reply as it considers appropriate. Accordingly, the Panel finds that Respondent did not have a legitimate use in mind when registering the disputed domain names.

 

Indeed, as already noted, the resolving websites offer competing services. This constitutes bad faith registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv). See Asbury Auto Group Inc. v. Tex. Int'l Prop Assocs FA 958542 (Forum May 29, 2007) (finding that the respondent's use of the disputed domain name to compete with the complainant's business would likely lead to confusion amongst Internet users as to the sponsorship or affiliation of a competing business and was therefore evidence of bad faith and use); see also Xylem Inc. and Xylem IP Holdings LLC v. YinSi BaoHu YiKaiQi, FA1504001612750 (Forum May 13, 2015) (“The Panel agrees that Respondent’s use of the website to display products similar to Complainant’s, imputes intent to attract Internet users for commercial gain, and finds bad faith per Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv).”). Accordingly, the Panel finds bad faith registration and use per Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv).

 

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 <citadel-ex.com> and <citadelex.co> domain names be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.

 

 

Richard Hill, Panelist

Dated:  November 24, 2021

 

 

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