DECISION

 

Svenska Resegruppen AB v. ojode jaba

Claim Number: FA2607002232736

 

PARTIES

Complainant is Svenska Resegruppen AB ("Complainant"), represented by Bruce A. McDonald of SMITH, GAMBRELL & RUSSELL LLP, District of Columbia, USA. Respondent is ojode jaba ("Respondent"), Kenya.

 

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME

The domain name at issue is <gotogate.site>, registered with NameCheap, Inc.

 

PANEL

The undersigned certifies that they have acted independently and impartially and to the best of their knowledge have no known conflict in serving as Panelist in this proceeding.

 

Richard Hill as Panelist.

 

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

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

 

On July 16, 2026, NameCheap, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to Forum that the <gotogate.site> domain name is registered with NameCheap, Inc. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. NameCheap, Inc. has verified that Respondent is bound by the NameCheap, Inc. 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 July 20, 2026, Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of August 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@gotogate.site. Also on July 20, 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. Respondent did however send emails to Forum, see below.

 

On August 11, 2026, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, Forum appointed Richard Hill 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 states that it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Etraveli Group AB, both Swedish limited liability companies located in Uppsala, Sweden. Together they operate as a leading global flight technology provider and online travel aggregator, active in over 75 countries, serving both retail consumer markets and business-to-business travel integrations, and managing core tech platforms, AI infrastructure, API/interlining technology, and specialized travel financial services. Complainant is the primary core operational and fulfillment subsidiary within the Nordic region and broader European markets for the group. Complainant provides back-end travel arrangement, reservation services, merchant-of-record ticketing processing, and regional compliance administration for the group's consumer portfolios. The GOTOGATE mark is one of Etraveli Group's flagship consumer-facing Online Travel Agency (OTA) brands. GOTOGATE functions as a global consumer portal allowing users to compare and book flights from over 550 airlines, purchase travel insurance, and secure hotel packages. Complainant holds the registered trademarks, while daily consumer operations, regional site localizations, and consumer marketing are executed fluidly via interconnected network affiliates within the group. A substantial portion of Complainant's 7.42 billion SEK gross operations flows directly through or is attributed to GOTOGATE's booking volume. For many years, goods and services under the GOTOGATE trademark have made up a massive share of the retail consumer orders that feed into the €14 billion gross transaction value handled by the overarching technology stack. Complainant asserts rights in the mark GOTOGATE through its registration in Sweden in 2005. The mark is registered elsewhere around the world.

 

Complainant alleges that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to its GOTOGATE mark because it incorporates the mark in its entirety, merely adding the ".site" generic top-level domain name ("gTLD").

 

According to Complainant, Respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name, nor has Complainant authorized or licensed Respondent to use its mark. Respondent does not use the disputed domain name for a bona fide offering of goods or services, or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use. Instead, the disputed domain name resolves to a counterfeit website that displays Complainant's mark and purports to offer Complainant's services. That website is used an ongoing phishing scheme connecting to a multitude of counterfeit Facebook groups purporting to represent Complainant. The massive scale of Respondent's unlawful scheme—consisting of at least 34 separate counterfeit Facebook groups directing traffic to a fake domain—indicates a coordinated attack on Complainant's trademark by a consumer fraud campaign. Operating dozens of lookalike online communities is a classic tactic used by bad actors to build a false sense of legitimacy, harvest user credentials, and scam travelers out of financial data. Using Complainant's well-known brand name to run phishing schemes and distribute counterfeit booking services strips Complainant's trademark of its positive reputation. It links the brand directly with criminal activity in the minds of consumers. Setting up multiple algorithmic or manually managed community groups also creates an echo chamber. Unsuspecting users searching for customer support or travel deals are highly likely to land on these fraudulent nodes. When victims are scammed by a Facebook group using a name like <facebook.com/groups/gotogate>, they often blame the legitimate brand for failing to protect its ecosystem, resulting in a severe drop in institutional trust. Complainant has received misdirected communications from consumers victimized by this scheme believing that they were victimized by Complainant.

 

Further, says Complainant, Respondent registered and uses the disputed domain name in bad faith. The resolving website impersonates Complainant and is used in furtherance of phishing and scamming.

 

B. Respondent

It its emails to Forum Respondent states, in pertinent part: "Just to clarify things takedown the website".

 

FINDINGS

For the reasons set forth below, the Panel will not make any findings of fact.

 

DISCUSSION

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.

 

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."

 

The Panel interprets Respondent's emails to Forum as indicating consent to transfer the disputed domain name. Thus, in the present case, the parties have both asked for the domain name to be transferred to the Complainant. In accordance with a general legal principle governing arbitrations as well as national court proceedings, this Panel holds that it cannot act nec ultra petita nec infra petita, that is, that it cannot issue a decision that would be either less than requested, nor more than requested by the parties. Since the requests of the parties in this case are identical, the Panel has no scope to do anything other than to recognize the common request, and it has no mandate to make findings of fact or of compliance (or not) with the Policy.

 

See Malev Hungarian Airlines, Ltd. v. Vertical Axis Inc., FA 212653 (Forum Jan. 13, 2004); see also Boehringer Ingelheim Int'l GmbH v. Modern Ltd. – Cayman Web Dev., FA 133625 (Forum Jan. 9, 2003) (transferring the domain name registration where the respondent stipulated to the transfer); see also Disney Enters., Inc. v. Morales, FA 475191 (Forum June 24, 2005) ("[U]nder such circumstances, where Respondent has agreed to comply with Complainant's request, the Panel felt it to be expedient and judicial to forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order the transfer of the domain names.").

 

Identical and/or Confusingly Similar

For the reasons set forth above, the Panel will not analyze this element of the Policy.

 

Rights or Legitimate Interests

For the reasons set forth above, the Panel will not analyze this element of the Policy.

 

Registration and Use in Bad Faith

For the reasons set forth above, the Panel will not analyze this element of the Policy.

 

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 <gotogate.site> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.

 

 

 

Richard Hill, Panelist

Dated: August 11, 2026