URS DEFAULT DETERMINATION

West African Civil Society Forum v. West African Civil Society Forum
Claim Number: FA2208002009678

DOMAIN NAME

<wacsof-foscao.org>

PARTIES

	Complainant: West African Civil Society Forum of Abuja, --, Nigeria
	Complainant Representative: Grand BIU International of Abuja, --, Nigeria

	Respondent: Komlan Messie / West African Civil Society Forum of Abuja, FC, FC, NG

REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS

	Registries: Public Interest Registry
	Registrars: 1&1 IONOS SE

EXAMINER

	The undersigned certifies that he or she has acted independently and impartially and to the best of his or her knowledge has no known conflict in serving as Examiner in this proceeding.
	Richard W. Hill, as Examiner

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

	Complainant Submitted: August 25, 2022
	Commencement: August 25, 2022
	Default Date: September 9, 2022
	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").

RELIEF SOUGHT

Complainant requests that the domain name be suspended for the life of the registration.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Clear and convincing evidence.

FINDINGS and DISCUSSION

Findings of Fact: The Complaint states the following: WACSOF is a civil society coalition organization that is domiciled in Nigeria and supervised by ECOWAS. The current holder or registrant of the domain name is Messi Komlan who is a former employee of the owner of the trademark West African Civil Society 'WACSOF' or 'FOSCAO' in french. He was employed as a general Secretary of the organization which was dully registered in Nigeria under the laws of the land in the Corporate Affairs Commission. The organization initially used this domain as an online contact and communication. However, it was discovered that Messi Komlan hijacked the website and all communication channels associated with it (webmails) for personal and illegal purposes. All contacts from the website and webmails were obscured from the administration of the organization and a lot of financial fraud and misappropriations occurred as foreign partners were misled by his activities. The highlight of this was when GPAC our partner and others complained as the organization, WACSOF was not aware of communications via our electronic media. This prompted his suspension and subsequently sack from WACSOF. We have even published disclaimers on popular media channels and written legally concerning this. Messi Komlan has refused to hand over access to this website after his sack but still runs it in parallel to disrupt the activities of the organization and mislead others. This has caused a lot of problems as we receive reports and complaints daily as a result of illegal activities. As we could not get back our website, we have moved our legitimate activities to wacsof-foscao.net. We have also informed all our current partners and stakeholders of this change.

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.

[URS 1.2.6.1] The registered domain name(s) is/are identical or confusingly similar to a word mark:
  (i) for which the Complainant holds a valid national or regional registration and that is in current use; or
  (ii) that has been validated through court proceedings; or
  (iii) that is specifically protected by a statute or treaty in effect at the time the URS complaint is filed.

Determined: Finding for Respondent

Complainant attached a certificate of incorporation, but it does not allege, much less present evidence, to show that it has common law or registered trademark rights. Consequently, the Examiner finds that Complainant has failed to satisfy its burden of clear and convincing proof for this element of the URS.

[URS 1.2.6.2] Registrant has no legitimate right or interest to the domain name.

Determined: Finding for Respondent

For the reasons given above and below, the Examiner will not rule on this element of the URS.

[URS 1.2.6.3] The domain name(s) was/were registered and is being used in bad faith.
  a. Registrant has registered or acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of documented out-of pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or
  b. Registrant has registered the domain name in order to prevent the trademark holder or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that Registrant has engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
  c. Registrant registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
  d. By using the domain name Registrant has intentionally attempted to attract for commercial gain, Internet users to Registrant's web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of Registrant's web site or location or of a product or service on that web site or location.

Determined: Finding for Respondent

Complainant does not provide any evidence to support its allegations. While the Examiner is sympathetic to Complainant's situation, he cannot find that its case is proven by clear and convincing evidence. It appears to the Examiner that a UDRP proceeding, which has a lower standard of proof, would be a more appropriate procedure to use for this case.

FINDING OF ABUSE or MATERIAL FALSEHOOD

The Examiner may find that the Complaint was brought in an abuse of this proceeding or that it contained material falsehoods.

The Examiner finds as follows:

The Complaint was neither abusive nor contained material falsehoods.

DETERMINATION

After reviewing the parties submissions, the Examiner determines that the following domain names should be dismissed without any findings; the Examiner hereby Orders the following domain name(s) be returned to the control of the Respondent.

wacsof-foscao.org

Richard W. Hill
Examiner
Dated: September 16, 2022

Click Here to return to the main Domain Decisions Page.

Click Here to return to our Home Page