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Дела по доменам общего пользования
Дела по национальным доменам
WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION
Citigroup, Inc v. Party Night Inc. aka Peter Carrington
Case No. D2003-0480
1. The Parties
The Complainant is Citigroup, Inc, a Delaware corporation with a principal place of business in New York, United States of America, represented by Haynes and Boone, LLP, United States of America.
The Respondent is Party Night Inc. aka Peter Carrington, with addresses in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Geneva, Switzerland.
2. The Domain Names and Registrars
There are two domain names at issue.
The disputed domain name <citifiancial.com> is registered with Key-Systems GmbH dba domaindiscount24.com.
The disputed domain name <arcadiafinacial.com> is registered with CSL Computer Service Langenbach GmbH dba Joker.com.
3. Procedural History
The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the "Center") on June 20, 2003. On June 23, 2003, the Center transmitted by email to Key-Systems GmbH dba domaindiscount24.com and to CSL Computer Service Langenbach GmbH dba Joker.com requests for registrar verification in connection with the domain names at issue. On June 23, 2003, Key-Systems GmbH dba domaindiscount24.com and CSL Computer Service Langenbach GmbH dba Joker.com transmitted by email to the Center their verification responses confirming that the Respondent is listed as the registrant and providing the contact details for the administrative, billing, and technical contact. In response to a notification by the Center that the Complaint was administratively deficient, the Complainant filed an amendment to the Complaint on July 3, 2003. The Center verified that the Complaint together with the amendment to the Complaint satisfied the formal requirements of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Policy"), the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Rules"), and the WIPO Supplemental Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Supplemental Rules").
In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2(a) and 4(a), the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on July 9, 2003. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was July 29, 2003. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on July 31, 2003.
The Center appointed George R. F. Souter as the Sole Panelist in this matter on August 8, 2003. The Panel finds that it was properly constituted. The Panel has submitted the Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence, as required by the Center to ensure compliance with the Rules, paragraph 7.
4. Factual Background
The Complainant states that it was formed in 1998, by the merger of Travelers and Citicorp, and is the world’s largest financial services firm and the largest US-based bank holding company, with over $ (US) 1 trillion in assets, over 270,000 employees around the world, and managing customer accounts across six continents in more than 100 countries.
In connection
with the
Complaint
for <citifiancial.com>,
the Complainant
has drawn
the attention
of the Panel
to Citigroup
Inc v. Ian
Templeton,
WIPO
Case No.
D2002-0231,
in which,
to the satisfaction
of the Panel
in that
case, it
demonstrated
the ownership,
by registration
and reputation,
of its "CITI-prefixed
Family of
Marks",
and to a
number of
other decisions
dealing
with the
same issue.
In the present
case, the
Complainant
has supplied
the Panel
with details
of a number
of trademark
registrations
and pending
applications,
including
a European
Community
trademark
registration,
of its trademark
CITIFINANCIAL.
The Complainant, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Citibank NA, operates websites under the domain names <citifinancial.com>, <citifinancial.net>, <citifinancial.biz>.
In connection with the Complaint for <arcadiafinacial.com>, the Complainant has provided the Panel with a certified copy of US trademark registration No 1816141, of the trademark ARCADIA FINANCIAL LTD (and device), registered in 1994, claiming first use in commerce in 1992, owned by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Arcadia Financial Ltd. The Complainant avers that Arcadia Financial Ltd is "the largest indirect automobile lending institution in the United States, providing auto financing for over 100,000 franchised and independent auto dealers in 46 states and servicing active loans valuing approximately $5 billion with over 450,000 customers."
The Complainant, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Citibank NA, operates a website under the domain name <arcadiafinancial.com>.
The Complainant alleges that the domain names at issue are used to operate websites with sexually explicit content, and has provided proof of such usage.
5. Parties’
Contentions
A. Complainant
The Complainant contends that the domain names at issue are virtually identical and confusingly similar to the Complainant’s well known marks, that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in either domain name, and that the Respondent is "a notorious and serial typosquatter who has engaged in a pattern of bad faith registration by knowingly registering …domain names, confusingly similar or identical to distinctive or famous marks", and that, accordingly, the domain names at issue have been registered and used in bad faith.
The Complainant,
inter
alia,
further
alleges
that the
Respondent
"is
unlawfully
using the
Domain Names
for commercial
gain, namely
to divert
customers
to his porn
site to,
inter
alia,
generate
advertising
revenue
and to deceive
Internet
users into
believing
that Complainant
is associated
or affiliated
with, or
sponsors
or endorses
the parties
whose goods
and services
are advertised
in Respondent’s
offensive
and sexually
explicit
pop-up windows".
Such use
has been
deemed "a
textbook
case of
bad faith
registration
and use
under the
Policy 4(b)(iv)"
AOL Time
Warner Inc
v. John
Zuccarini,
WIPO
Case No. D2002-0827."
B. Respondent
The Respondent did not reply to the Complainant’s contentions.
6. Discussion and Findings
Paragraph 4(a) of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy lists three tests which a Complainant must satisfy in order to succeed:
(i) the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights; and
(ii) the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
(iii) the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
(i) Identical or Confusingly Similar
The panel is satisfied that the Complainant has protectable trademark rights through registration and reputation in connection with both trademarks CITIFINANCIAL and ARCADIA FINANCIAL.
The domain
names at
issue are
both (suspiciously)
"close"
mis-spellings
of these
trademarks.
It is well-established
in the case
law under
the Policy
that such
"close"
mis-spellings
result in
confusing
similarity
with a Complainant’s
trademarks.
See, for
example,
Société
des Produits
Nestlé
SA v. Peter
Carrington,
c/o Party
Night Inc,
WIPO
Case No.
D2002-0954,
in which
the Respondent
in this
case was
also the
Respondent.
The Panel
concurs
with this
consistent
line of
reasoning,
and so decides
in this
case.
(ii) Rights or Legitimate Interests
The Respondent
has not
taken the
opportunity
accorded
to him under
these proceedings
of justifying
its adoption
of the domain
name. There
appears
to be no
circumstances
attached
to the Respondent’s
name or
address(es)
which might
lead to
any suspicion
of legitimate
interest.
In these
circumstances,
the Panel
decides
that the
Complainant,
whose Complaint
was transmitted
to the Respondent
under the
procedure,
has satisfied
the second
test. The
Panel is
reinforced
in this
conclusion
by the knowledge
that the
Respondent
in this
case has
been a frequent
Respondent
in other
similar
"mis-spelling"
(or "typosquatting")
cases (see,
for example,
Société
des Produits
Nestlé
SA v. Peter
Carrington,
c/o Party
Night Inc,
WIPO
Case No.
D2002-0954),
and in each
case there
has been
a finding
that he
had no rights
or legitimate
interests
in the domain
names at
issue.
(iii) Registered and Used in Bad Faith
The third test is, in reality, a dual test, requiring the Panel to be satisfied both that the domain names have been registered in bad faith and used in bad faith.
The Panel
has consistently
taken the
view in
previous
cases that
a pattern
of abusive
behaviour
is sufficient
to satisfy
both legs
of this
test. Société
des Produits
Nestlé
SA v. Peter
Carrington,
c/o Party
Night Inc,
WIPO
Case No.
D2002-0954
is an illustration
of the Respondent’s
pattern
of behaviour
in connection
with the
registration
and use
of domain
names, and
reinforces
the Panel’s
finding
in this
case that
there has
been both
registration
and use
in bad faith
in connection
with both
the domain
names at
issue.
The Panel
could, equally,
on the specific
facts of
this case,
have arrived
at the same
finding
on this
test by
applying
the reasoning
(with which
he is in
entire agreement)
of the Panel
in AOL
Time Warner
Inc
v. John
Zuccarini,
WIPO
Case No.
D2002-0827
referred
to above
(in which,
according
to evidence
supplied
by the Complainant
in this
case, the
Respondent
was, in
all probability,
an alter
ego
of the Respondent
in this
case).
7. Decision
For all the foregoing reasons, in accordance with Paragraphs 4(i) of the Policy and 15 of the Rules, the Panel orders that the domain names, <citifiancial.com> and <arcadiafinacial.com> be transferred to the Complainant.
George R. F. Souter
Sole Panelist
Dated: August 22, 2003