DECISION

 

AbbVie Inc. v. em mark

Claim Number: FA2601002197471

 

PARTIES

Complainant is AbbVie Inc. ("Complainant"), represented by Molly Buck Richard of Richard Law Group, Inc., Texas, USA. Respondent is em mark ("Respondent"), Guam, USA.

 

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME

The domain name at issue is <mexico-abbvie-mc.com> ("Disputed Domain Name" or "DDN"), registered with Gname.com Pte. Ltd.

 

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.  David L. Kreider, Chartered Arbitrator (UK), as Panelist.

 

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Complainant submitted a Complaint to Forum electronically on January 1, 2026; Forum received payment on January 1, 2026.

 

On January 5, 2026, Gname.com Pte. Ltd. confirmed by e-mail to Forum that the <mexico-abbvie-mc.com> domain name is registered with Gname.com Pte. Ltd. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Gname.com Pte. Ltd. has verified that Respondent is bound by the Gname.com Pte. 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 5, 2026, Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of January 26, 2026, 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@mexico-abbvie-mc.com. Also on January 5, 2026, 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, Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.

 

On January 27, 2026, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, Forum appointed David L. Kreider 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.

 

RELIEF SOUGHT

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

 

PARTIES' CONTENTIONS

A. Complainant

Complainant, AbbVie Inc., describes itself as a specialty-focused research-based biopharmaceutical company. The Complaint alleges that the disputed domain name is currently blocked by Chrome as a "Dangerous Site," as Google Safe Browsing has identified phishing activity on the webpage associated with the disputed domain name. Complainant avers that that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the Disputed Domain Name, and has registered the DDN, which is confusingly similar to Complainant's ABBVIE Mark, and is using the Disputed Domain Name to impersonate Complainant and create a false connection with Complainant in an attempt to phish for personal information, which is not a bona fide offering of goods and services pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(i) nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii). Respondent registered the Disputed Domain Name with knowledge of Complainant's rights in the ABBVIE Mark, Complainant contends, intending to create an association with Complainant and its products and services, where none exists, and that Respondent's registration of the Disputed Domain Name with knowledge of Complainant's rights is evidence of bad faith registration and use with regard to Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii).

 

B. Respondent

Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.

 

FINDINGS

1)       Complainant is the owner of the ABBVIE trademark (the "Mark"), including U.S. trademark Registration Number 4,340,091, registered on May 21, 2013.  Complainant registered its official website and the domain name <abbvie.com> on February 28, 2012.

 

2)       Respondent registered the Disputed Domain Name on December 11, 2025.

 

3)       WHOIS information for the disputed domain is privacy shielded.  The Panel finds that use of a privacy service to conceal the registrant's identity supports an inference of bad faith under the circumstances.

 

4)       Pursuant to verification from the registrar, Respondent is known as "em mark."  Respondent is not commonly known by Complainant's Mark and is not affiliated with Complainant.

 

5)       Complainant's evidence, unrebutted by the defaulting Respondent, shows that the Disputed Domain Name is currently blocked by Chrome as a "Dangerous Site," as Google Safe Browsing has identified phishing activity on the webpage associated with the Disputed Domain Name, which does not constitute a use in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i), nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii).

 

DISCUSSION

Paragraph 15(a) of the Rules instructs this Panel to "decide a complaint on the basis of the statements and documents submitted and 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.").

 

Identical and/or Confusingly Similar

The disputed domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant's ABBVIE Mark. It includes the Mark in its entirety, preceded by the country name "Mexico" with a hyphen before ABBVIE, followed by a hyphen and the letters "mc" and adding the gTLD, ".com". This is not sufficient to distinguish the domain name from Complainant's registered Mark. The Panel finds that the first element at Policy Paragraph 4(a)(i) is satisfied.

 

Rights or Legitimate Interests

Complainant's evidence shows that the Disputed Domain Name is blocked by Chrome as a "Dangerous Site", and that Google Safe Browsing has identified phishing activity on the webpage associated with the Disputed Domain Name.  Panelists have found that this type of use does not constitute a use in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i), nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii).  See, e.g., AbbVie Inc. v. Hernan Diaz / REDACTED, FA 2173205 (Forum Sept. 23, 2025) (finding the use of the domain name in connection with a site that has been flagged as dangerous is not a bona fide offering of goods and services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use); Nutramax Laboratories, Inc. v. Baodan / Jimmy Carter FA 2164984 (Forum Aug. 7, 2025) (finding that such use of a disputed domain name was not use in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i), nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii); 18th and Walnut LLC v. Felix Jan FA 2123948 (Forum Dec. 10, 2024) ("Such undenied employment is neither a bona fide offering of goods or services by means of the domain name under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i) nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of it under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii) such as would confirm in Respondent rights to or legitimate interests in the domain name as provided in those subsections of the Policy.").  In the present case, the Respondent has defaulted and made no attempt to refute or deny the Complainant's evidence, which the Panel deems persuasive.  The Panel finds that the second element at Policy Paragraph 4(a)(ii) is satisfied.

 

Registration and Use in Bad Faith

The Panel finds that Respondent registered the Disputed Domain Name with knowledge of Complainant's rights in the ABBVIE Mark and intended to create an association with Complainant and its products and services for its own commercial benefit. Particularly given Complainant's global prominence in the biopharmaceutical field, the likelihood that Respondent is using the Disputed Domain Name and the website to which it resolves, which has been flagged by Chrome as a "DANGEROUS SITE", for phishing and possibly other fraudulent activities, presents a risk to public welfare and underscores Respondent's bad faith registration and use of the Disputed Domain Name. The Panel finds that the third element at Policy Paragraph 4(a)(iii) is satisfied.

 

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 <mexico-abbvie-mc.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.

 

 

 

David L. Kreider, Panelist

Dated: January 30, 2026