DECISION

Mattel, Inc. v. Momm Amed Ia

Claim Number: FA0204000109758

PARTIES

Complainant is Mattel, Inc., El Segundo, CA (“Complainant”) represented by William Dunnegan, of Perkins & Dunnegan.  Respondent is Momm Amed Ia, Kwangju, KOREA (“Respondent”).

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME 

The domain name at issue is <fischerprice.com>, registered with BulkRegister.com.

PANEL

On May 22, 2002, pursuant to Complainant’s request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed James P. Buchele as Panelist. 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.

 

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum (the “Forum”) electronically on April 19, 2002; the Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on April 23, 2002.

On April 19, 2002, BulkRegister.com confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the domain name <fischerprice.com> is registered with BulkRegister.com and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name.  BulkRegister.com has verified that Respondent is bound by the BulkRegister.com registration agreement and has thereby agreed to resolve domain-name disputes brought by third parties in accordance with ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy”).

On April 23, 2002, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the “Commencement Notification”), setting a deadline of May 13, 2002 by which Respondent could file a Response to the Complaint, was transmitted to Respondent via e-mail, post and fax, to all entities and persons listed on Respondent’s registration as technical, administrative and billing contacts, and to postmaster@fischerprice.com by e-mail.

Having received no Response from Respondent, using the same contact details and methods as were used for the Commencement Notification, the Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.

Having reviewed the communications records, the Administrative Panel (the “Panel”) finds that the 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.”  Therefore, the Panel may issue its decision based on the documents submitted and in accordance with the ICANN Policy, ICANN Rules, the 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

The disputed domain name <fischerprice.com> is confusingly similar to FISHER-PRICE, a registered mark in which Complainant holds rights.

Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name.

Respondent registered and used the disputed domain name in bad faith.

B. Respondent

No Response was received.

FINDINGS

Complainant holds two trademarks in FISHER-PRICE, registered on the Principal Register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office on August 20, 1996 and March 26, 2002 as Reg. Nos. 1,995,342 and 2,553,463, respectively.  The marks have been continuously used in commerce since at least as early as 1994 in association with toy ride-on cars and foul weather gear.  Complainant also holds rights in the mark POWER WHEELS BY FISHER-PRICE.

Respondent registered the disputed domain name on August 2, 2000, and has used it to redirect Internet users to unrelated advertising websites.

DISCUSSION

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.”

In view of Respondent's failure to submit a Response, the Panel shall decide this administrative proceeding on the basis of the Complainant's undisputed representations pursuant to paragraphs 5(e), 14(a) and 15(a) of the Rules and draw such inferences it considers appropriate pursuant to paragraph 14(b) of the Rules.

Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy requires that the 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 the Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights; and

(2) the 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.

Identical and/or Confusingly Similar

Complainant has established its rights in the FISHER-PRICE mark through registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and through continuous subsequent use.

The disputed domain name <fischerprice.com> is confusingly similar to Complainant’s mark as it merely omits the hyphen from the mark and adds the letter “c” to it.  The removal of the hyphen from Complainant’s mark does not significantly alter the impression of the mark so as to defeat a claim of confusing similarity.  See Nat’l Cable Satellite Corp. v. Black Sun Surf Co., FA 94738  (Nat. Arb. Forum June 19, 2000) (holding that the domain name <cspan.net>, which omitted the hyphen from the trademark spelling, C-SPAN, is confusingly similar to Complainant's mark); see also Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. v. Club Car Executive, D2000-0611 (WIPO Sept. 18, 2000) (finding that removing a hyphen in the domain name is not sufficient to differentiate the domain name from the mark).  Similarly, the addition of the letter “c” to the mark does not reduce the likelihood of confusion between the mark and domain name as the resulting domain name is phonetically the same as Complainant’s mark and reflects a probable and common misspelling of the mark.  See Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Cupcake City, FA 93562 (Nat. Arb. Forum Apr. 7, 2000) (finding that a domain name which is phonetically identical to Complainant’s mark satisfies ¶ 4(a)(i) of the Policy); see also American Airlines Inc. v. Data Art Corp., FA 94908 (Nat. Arb. Forum July 11, 2000) (finding <americanairline.com> "effectively identical and certainly confusingly similar" to Complainant's AMERICAN AIRLINES registered marks).

Accordingly, the Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) has been satisfied.

Rights or Legitimate Interests

Complainant has established its rights to and interests in the FISHER-PRICE mark.  Because Respondent has not submitted a Response in this matter, the Panel may presume it has no such rights or interests in the disputed domain name.  See Pavillion Agency, Inc. v. Greenhouse Agency Ltd., D2000-1221 (WIPO Dec. 4, 2000) (finding that Respondents’ failure to respond can be construed as an admission that they have no legitimate interest in the domain names).

Respondent has used the disputed domain names to trade on Complainant’s reputation and goodwill to direct Internet users to commercial advertising websites.  Such use does not constitute a bona fide offering of goods or services pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(i).  See Big Dog Holdings, Inc. v. Day, FA 93554 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar. 9, 2000) (finding no legitimate use when Respondent was diverting consumers to its own website by using Complainant’s trademarks); see also Computer Doctor Franchise Sys., Inc. v. Computer Doctor, FA 95396 (Nat. Arb. Forum Sept. 8, 2000) (finding that the Respondent’s website, which was blank but for links to other websites, was not a legitimate use of the domain names).

There is no evidence Respondent is commonly known by the disputed domain name pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii); Respondent is only known to this Panel as Momm Amed Ia.  See Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce v. D3M Virtual Reality Inc., AF-0336 (eResolution Sept. 23, 2000) (finding no rights or legitimate interests where no such right or interest was immediately apparent to the Panel and Respondent did not come forward to suggest any right or interest it may have possessed).

Further, by using a confusingly similar variation of Complainant’s mark for commercial gain, Respondent is not making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii).  See Kosmea Pty Ltd. v. Krpan, D2000-0948 (WIPO Oct. 3, 2000) (finding no rights in the domain name where Respondent had an intention to divert consumers of Complainant’s products to Respondent’s site by using Complainant’s mark); see also AltaVista v. Krotov, D2000-1091 (WIPO Oct. 25, 2000) (finding that use of the domain name to direct users to other, unconnected websites does not constitute a legitimate interest in the domain name).

The Panel finds that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name and that Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii) has been satisfied.

Registration and Use in Bad Faith

Complainant asserts that Respondent registered and used the disputed domain name in bad faith in order to profit from the notoriety of Complainant’s FISHER-PRICE mark.  Given Respondent’s lack of rights and interests in the domain name, the Panel will accept Complainant’s assertion as true.  See Talk City, Inc. v. Robertson, D2000-0009 (WIPO Feb. 29, 2000) (“In the absence of a response, it is appropriate to accept as true all allegations of the Complaint”); see also Desotec N.V. v. Jacobi Carbons AB, D2000-1398 (WIPO Dec. 21, 2000) (finding that failing to respond allows a presumption that Complainant’s allegations are true unless clearly contradicted by the evidence).

The registration and use of a domain name that is confusingly similar to the trademark of another, in order to commercially benefit from the confusion that is likely to ensue, demonstrate bad faith within the meaning of Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv).  See Am. Online, Inc. v. Tencent Comm. Corp., FA 93668 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar. 21, 2000) (finding bad faith where Respondent registered and used an infringing domain name to attract users to a website sponsored by Respondent); see also Bama Rags, Inc. v. Zuccarini, FA 94380 (Nat. Arb. Forum May 8, 2000) (finding bad faith where the Respondent attracted users to advertisements).

Accordingly, the Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii) has been satisfied.

DECISION

Having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that the requested relief should be hereby granted.

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

James P. Buchele, Panelist

Dated: May 28, 2002

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