DECISION

 

McDonald Hopkins LLC v. Repossessed by Go Daddy

Claim Number: FA2601002199710

 

PARTIES

Complainant is McDonald Hopkins LLC ("Complainant"), represented by Matthew J. Cavanagh of McDonald Hopkins LLC, Ohio, USA. Respondent is Repossessed by Go Daddy ("Respondent"), Arizona, USA.

 

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME

The domain name at issue is <mcdonaldhopkin.com>, registered with GoDaddy.com, 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.

 

Debrett G. Lyons as Panelist.

 

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Complainant submitted a Complaint to Forum electronically on January 14, 2026; Forum received payment on January 14, 2026.

 

On January 15, 2026, GoDaddy.com, LLC confirmed by e-mail to Forum that the <mcdonaldhopkin.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 January 21, 2026, Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of February 10, 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@mcdonaldhopkin.com. Also on January 21, 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 formal response from Respondent, Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.

 

On February 12, 2026, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, Forum appointed Debrett G. Lyons 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 asserts registered and common law trademark rights in MCDONALD HOPKINS which it uses in connection with the provision of legal services.  Complainant states that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to its trademark.

 

Complainant alleges that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name because it is not known by the same name; has not been authorized to use the trademark; and has not used the domain name to date for any bona fide purpose. 

 

Complainant alleges that Respondent registered the disputed domain name in bad faith having targeted Complainant.

 

B. Respondent

Respondent failed to submit a formal Response but on January 22, 2026, wrote to Forum, stating that "[b]ecause the domain <mcdonaldhopkin.com> has been repossessed, we are willing to hand over the domain to the complainant via an approved settlement."

 

FINDINGS

The factual findings are that:

1.       Complainant provides legal services under the trademark, MCDONALD HOPKINS;

2.       Complainant is the owner of United States Patent and Trademark Office Reg. No. 4,221,744, for the trademark, MCDONALD HOPKINS, registered October 9, 2012; and

3.       the disputed domain name was registered on December 1, 2025, and has not been used.

 

PRELIMINARY ISSUE: CONSENT TO TRANSFER

The procedural question arises as to whether the Panel should directly transfer the domain name to Complainant without need to apply the Policy. The issue is in this case finely balanced. Transfer would be consistent with the request of the Complaint, but Complainant has not expressly foregone application of the Policy and UDRP decisions have long recognised so-called "consent to transfer" as one way in which respondents have tried to avoid the impact of the Policy and an adverse published decision.  

 

So, too, Respondent's message to Forum consenting to transfer the name "via an approved settlement" is not wholly unconditional.  

 

Those factors might ordinarily lead a panel away from an order for direct transfer. However, whilst the Complaint might raise reasonable inferences that Respondent appears to have no rights or legitimate interest in the domain name, and that the domain name may have been registered in bad faith, the name itself is composed of two common surnames, one non-identical to its near equivalent in the trademark, which may be given to fair use. There is no Response, but equally there is no direct evidence of bad faith.

 

The Panel would not be inclined to apply any of sub-paragraphs 4(b)(i)-(iv) of the Policy and "passive holding" in bad faith might depend on better proof of the common law rights asserted by Complainant.

 

The Panel considers direct transfer the better option. 

 

DECISION

Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <mcdonaldhopkin.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.

 

 

 

Debrett G. Lyons, Panelist

Dated: February 12, 2026