Bloomberg Finance L.P. v. Jingzhi
Claim Number: FA2212002025932
Complainant is Bloomberg Finance L.P. (“Complainant”), represented by Laya Varanasi of Bloomberg L.P., New York, USA. Respondent is Jingzhi (“Respondent”), China.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <bloombergnews.xyz>, (‘the Domain Name’) registered with Xiamen ChinaSource Internet Service Co., Ltd.
The undersigned certifies that she has acted independently and impartially and to the best of her knowledge has no known conflict in serving as Panelist in this proceeding.
Dawn Osborne as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to Forum electronically on December 30, 2022; Forum received payment on December 30, 2022.
On January 4, 2023, Xiamen ChinaSource Internet Service Co., Ltd confirmed by e-mail to Forum that the <bloombergnews.xyz> Domain Name is registered with Xiamen ChinaSource Internet Service Co., Ltd and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Xiamen ChinaSource Internet Service Co., Ltd has verified that Respondent is bound by the Xiamen ChinaSource Internet Service Co., Ltd 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 January 9, 2023, Forum served the Chinese Complaint and all Annexes, including a Chinese and English language Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of January 30, 2023 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@bloombergnews.xyz. Also on January 9, 2023, the Chinese and English language 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, Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On February 6, 2023 pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, Forum appointed Dawn Osborne as Panelist.
Having reviewed the communications records, the Administrative Panel (the "Panel") finds that 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, 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.
PRELIMINARY ISSUE: LANGUAGE OF THE PROCEEDINGS
Pursuant to Rule 11(a), the Panel determines that the language requirement has been satisfied through the Chinese language Complaint and Commencement Notification, and, absent a Response, determines that the remainder of the proceedings may be conducted in English.
A. Complainant
The Complainant’s contentions can be summarized as follows:
The Complainant or one of its group of companies owns the trade mark BLOOMBERG NEWS registered, inter alia, in the USA for financial services with first use recorded as 1996.
The Domain Name registered in 2022 is identical to the Complainant’s Mark for the purposes of the Policy because it wholly incorporates it and is differentiated from it only by the addition of the gTLD “.xyz”.
Respondent has no license or authorization from the Complainant and is not commonly known by the BLOOMBERG NEWS mark. Respondent has not used the Domain Name, but is offering it for sale at the site attached to the Domain Name for $9999 so there is no bona fide offering of goods and services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use. Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests in the Domain Name. The Domain Name is being passively held and has been registered and used in bad faith to sell for profit.
B. Respondent
Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
The Complainant or one of its group of companies owns the trade mark BLOOMBERG NEWS registered, inter alia, in the USA for financial services with first use recorded as 1996.
The Domain Name registered in 2022 has been offered for sale generally for $9999.
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”).
The Domain Name consists of the Complainant's BLOOMBERG NEWS mark (which is registered, inter alia, in the USA for financial services with first use recorded as 1996) and the gTLD “.xyz".
The gTLD “.xyz” does not serve to distinguish the Domain Name from the Complainant’s mark for the purposes of the Policy. See Red Hat Inc. v. Haecke, FA 726010 (Forum July 24, 2006) (concluding that the redhat.org domain name is identical to the complainant's red hat mark because the mere addition of the gTLD was insufficient to differentiate the disputed domain name from the mark).
Accordingly, the Panel holds that the Domain Name is identical for the purposes of the Policy to a mark in which the Complainant has rights.
As such the Panel holds that Paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy has been satisfied.
Rights or Legitimate Interests
The Complainant has not authorized the use of its mark. There is no evidence or reason to suggest the Respondent is, in fact, commonly known by the Domain Name. See Alaska Air Group, Inc. and its subsidiary, Alaska Airlines v. Song Bin, FA1408001574905 (Forum Sept. 17, 2014) (holding that the respondent was not commonly known by the disputed domain name as demonstrated by the WHOIS information and based on the fact that the complainant had not licensed or authorized the respondent to use its ALASKA AIRLINES mark).
The Domain Name has been offered for sale generally. A general offer for sale may provide evidence of a lack of rights and legitimate interests in a domain name containing a trade mark. See 3M Company v. Kabir S Rawat, FA 1725052 (Forum May 9, 2017) (holding that “a general offer for sale”… provides evidence that Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests in a disputed domain name).
The Respondent has not answered this Complaint or rebutted the prima facie case as evidenced by the Complainant herein.
As such the Panelist finds that the Respondent does not have rights or legitimate interests in the Domain Name and that the Complainant has satisfied the second limb of the Policy.
Registration and Use in Bad Faith
Bad faith registration and use of a domain name containing a trade mark may be found, under Policy ¶ 4(b)(i), where a respondent offers it for sale generally. The asking price is well in excess of the costs of registration. See Airbnb, Inc. v. Super Privacy Service LTD c/o Dynadot, FA 1821386 (Forum Jan. 10, 2019) (“Complainant argues that Respondent registered and uses the <airbnbb.com> domain name in bad faith by offering it for sale. The Panel agrees and finds that Respondent registered and uses the disputed domain name in bad faith under Policy ¶ 4(b)(i).”).
As such, the Panelist believes that the Complainant has made out its case that the Domain Name was registered and used in bad faith and has satisfied the third limb of the Policy under paragraph 4(b)(i).
Having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <bloombergnews.xyz> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Dawn Osborne, Panelist
Dated: February 6, 2023
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