DECISION

 

King's Hawaiian Holding Company, Inc. v. Glen Demiri

Claim Number: FA2602002204938

 

PARTIES

Complainant is King's Hawaiian Holding Company, Inc. ("Complainant"), represented by Brian M. Wheeler of Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, California, USA. Respondent is Glen Demiri ("Respondent"), Nevada, USA.

 

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME

The domain name at issue is <kingshawaiian-calendar.com>, 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.

 

Alan L. Limbury, as Panelist.

 

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Complainant submitted a Complaint to Forum electronically on February 11, 2026. Forum received payment on February 11, 2026.

 

On February 12, 2026, NameSilo, LLC confirmed by e-mail to Forum that the <kingshawaiian-calendar.com> domain name is registered with NameSilo, LLC and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. 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 February 18, 2026, Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of March 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@kingshawaiian-calendar.com. Also on February 18, 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 March 11, 2026, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, Forum appointed Alan L. Limbury 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, King's Hawaiian Holding Company, Inc., a family-owned business, is a market-leading provider of rolls, bread, and other baked goods and bakery and restaurant services. Complainant has made and sold KING'S HAWAIIAN Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls and other baked goods under federally registered KING'S HAWAIIAN trademarks for decades.

 

The <kingshawaiian-calendar.com> domain name is identical or, at a minimum, confusingly similar to Complainant's KING'S HAWAIIAN mark.

 

Respondent lacks rights or a legitimate interest in the <kingshawaiian-calendar.com> domain name. Complainant has not licensed, authorized, or otherwise permitted Respondent to use the KING'S HAWAIIAN trademarks or to register domain names containing those marks. Respondent is not commonly known by the <kingshawaiian-calendar.com> domain name. There is no evidence of Respondent's use, or demonstrable preparations to use, the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services prior to notice of the dispute. To the contrary, the domain name resolves to a blank landing page with no content. Passive holding of domain names incorporating another's distinctive mark does not confer rights or legitimate interests. Nor is there any legitimate non-commercial or fair use: the blank pages make no commentary, fan, or informational use, and the selection of domain names that exactly replicate Complainant's trademarks with only trivial or descriptive additions is inconsistent with fair use.

 

Respondent registered and is using the <kingshawaiian-calendar.com> domain name in bad faith. The combination of the KING'S HAWAIIAN trademark with the descriptive scheduling term "-calendar" demonstrates knowledge of and intent to trade on the KING'S HAWAIIAN trademarks' goodwill. The domain name has been passively held as a blank landing page since registration, with no plausible legitimate purpose. Given the distinctiveness of Complainant's trademarks, the absence of any conceivable good faith use by an unaffiliated party, and Respondent's concealment of its identity via privacy services, the totality of circumstances supports bad faith registration and use. Registration of a nearly identical and confusingly similar domain name disrupts Complainant's business by diverting users seeking Complainant and risks misleading consumers as to source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement. Even absent active content, the domain name can be used for wrongful purposes, including email misdirection or phishing. The demonstrated passive holding under these circumstances is sufficient to establish bad faith.

 

B. Respondent

Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.

 

FINDINGS

Complainant has established all the elements entitling it to relief.

 

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 3.1 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

Complainant has shown that it has rights in the mark KING'S HAWAIIAN, including USPTO Registration No. 4,868,957, registered on December 15, 2015 for retail bakery shops, in International Class 35, and for restaurant services, in International Class 43. "Hawaiian" is disclaimed apart from the mark as shown.

 

It is well accepted that the first element functions primarily as a standing requirement. The standing (or threshold) test for confusing similarity involves a reasoned but relatively straightforward comparison between the complainant's trademark and the disputed domain name. WIPO Overview 3.1, ¶ 1.7.

 

The Panel finds Respondent's <kingshawaiian-calendar.com> domain name to be confusingly similar to Complainant's KING'S HAWAIIAN mark, only differing by the addition of a hyphen and the dictionary word "calendar", which differences are insufficient to distinguish the domain name from Complainant's mark. The inconsequential ".com" generic top-level domain ("gTLD") may be ignored under this element. See Rollerblade, Inc. v. Chris McCrady, D2000-0429 (WIPO June 25, 2000).

 

Complainant has established this element.

 

Rights or Legitimate Interests

Paragraph 4(c) of the Policy provides that any of the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to be proved based on its evaluation of all evidence presented, shall demonstrate Respondent's rights or legitimate interests to a domain name for purposes of Paragraph 4(a)(ii):

 

(i)                      before any notice to Respondent of the dispute, the use by Respondent of, or demonstrable preparations to use, the domain name or a name corresponding to the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services; or

 

(ii)                      Respondent (as an individual, business or other organization) has been commonly known by the domain name, even if Respondent has acquired no trademark or service mark rights; or

 

(iii)        Respondent is making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert customers or to tarnish the trademark or service mark at issue.

 

The <kingshawaiian-calendar.com> domain name was registered on January 22, 2026, more than ten years after the registration of Complainant's KING'S HAWAIIAN mark. It does not resolve to an active website.

 

These circumstances, together with Complainant's assertions, are sufficient to constitute a prima facie showing of absence of rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name on the part of Respondent. The evidentiary burden therefore shifts to Respondent to show that it does have rights or legitimate interests in the <kingshawaiian-calendar.com> domain name. See JUUL Labs, Inc. v. Dryx Emerson / KMF Events LTD, FA 1849706 (Forum July 17, 2019). Respondent has made no attempt to do so.

 

The Panel finds that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name.

 

Complainant has established this element.

 

Registration and Use in Bad Faith

Paragraph 4(b) of the Policy sets out some circumstances which shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name in bad faith for purposes of paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy. As noted in the WIPO Overview 3.1, Section 3.1, those circumstances are not exclusive and a complainant may demonstrate bad faith under paragraph 4(a)(iii) by showing that a respondent seeks to take unfair advantage of, abuse, or otherwise engage in behavior detrimental to the complainant's trademark.

 

Although the words "King's" and "calendar" are dictionary words which, taken separately, are not distinctive, the Panel finds their combination in Complainant's trademark to be distinctive.

 

In the absence of any Response, the circumstances set out above in relation to the second element, together with Complainant's assertions,  satisfy the Panel that Respondent was aware of Complainant and its distinctive KING'S HAWAIIAN mark when Respondent registered the <kingshawaiian-calendar.com> domain name and that Respondent did so in bad faith with intent to take unfair advantage of Complainant's mark.

 

Although the <kingshawaiian-calendar.com> domain name does not resolve to an active website, as in the leading case of Telstra Corporation Limited v. Nuclear Marshmallows, WIPO Case No. D2000-0003, there is no conceivable active use that could be made of the domain name that would not amount to an infringement of Complainant's rights in its distinctive mark. Accordingly, the Panel finds that Respondent's hitherto passive use of the domain name demonstrates registration and use in bad faith.

 

Complainant has established this element.

 

DECISION

Complainant having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.

 

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

 

 

 

Alan L. Limbury, Panelist

Dated: March 12, 2026