Home
| Databases
| WorldLII
| Search
| Feedback
Generic Top Level Domain Name (gTLD) Decisions |
Schering
Corporation v. NGS Enterprises, LTD
Claim Number: FA0309000198013
PARTIES
Complainant
is Schering Corporation, Kenilworth,
NJ (“Complainant”) represented by David
J. Kera, of Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier &
Neustadt, P.C., 1940 Duke Street,
Alexandria, VA 22314-3454.
Respondent is NGS Enterprises,
LTD, Miami Beach, FL (“Respondent”) represented by Mark Blake, 6849 Fairview
Road, Charlotte, NC 28210.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAMES
The
domain names at issue are <reditabs.com> and <readytabs.com> (the “Domain Names”), registered with Stargate.Com, Inc. (the “Registrar”).
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.
Michael
A. Albert as Panelist.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Complainant
submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum (the “Forum”)
electronically on September 24, 2003; the Forum
received a hard copy of the
Complaint on September 25, 2003.
On
September 25, 2003, the Registrar confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the
Domain Names are registered with it, and that Respondent
is the current
registrant of the Domain Names. The
Registrar has verified that Respondent is bound by the Registrar’s 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
September 29, 2003, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of
Administrative Proceeding (the “Commencement Notification”),
setting a deadline
of October 20, 2003 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@reditabs.com and postmaster@readytabs.com by
e-mail.
A
timely Response was received and determined by the Forum to be complete on October
15, 2003.[1]
On October 24, 2003, pursuant to Complainant’s request
to have the dispute decided by a single-member
Panel, the Forum appointed Michael A.
Albert as Panelist.
A
brief (one-page) additional submission was transmitted by Respondent on October
28, 2003, after expiration of the time period set
forth in the Forum’s
Supplemental Rule 7. Accordingly, the
Panel in its discretion could choose not to consider Respondent’s additional
submission. See Rules 10, 14, 15; Supplemental Rule 8. In this case, the Panel need not (and does
not) exercise this discretion.
Respondent’s additional submission, although considered, is found to be
unpersuasive and does not impact the Panel’s decision to transfer
the Domain
Names to Complainant.[2]
RELIEF SOUGHT
Complainant
requests that the Domain Names be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
PARTIES’ CONTENTIONS
A.
Complainant asserts as follows:
- Complainant
began using the mark REDITABS at least as early as 1997, and owns United States
federal registrations for REDITABS for
goods including “rapidly disintegrating
tablets in the nature of a carrier preparation used as a component for a
pharmaceutical preparation.”
- Complainant
has hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of antihistamine drugs under the
REDITABS mark on an annual basis, and extensively
advertises the same.
- The
REDITABS mark has become famous.
- Respondent
registered the Domain Names on March 28, 2002.
- Respondent
is not licensed by Complainant to use the REDITABS mark.
- Respondent
used the domain name <reditabs.com>
to sell Viagra®-related tablets.
- In
July 2002, Complainant attempted to contact Respondent through the e-mail
address listed on the <reditabs.com>
web site, but received no response.
- In
October 2002, Complainant contacted Respondent’s counsel, who communicated an
offer for Respondent to cease using the REDITABS
mark, phase out use of the <reditabs.com> domain name, and
use the <readytabs.com> domain
name instead.
- In
November 2002, Respondent caused the <readytabs.com>
domain name to resolve to the web site previously posted at <reditabs.com>, advertising Viagra®-related
tablets.
- Complainant
explained that use of the <readytabs.com>
domain by Respondent was unacceptable to Complainant because it is still a
phonetic equivalent of Complainant’s REDITABS mark.
- In
April 2003, after having previously agreed to transfer the <reditabs.com> domain name to Complainant and choose a
replacement mark, Respondent changed its position and demanded $30,000
compensation for such
transfer.
- Respondent
has no legitimate rights or interests in respect of the Domain Names.
- Before
notice to Respondent of this dispute, Respondent did not use, or make
demonstrable preparations to use, the Domain Names in
connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services.
- Respondent
is not making a legitimate non-commercial or fair use of the Domain Names
without intent for commercial gain misleadingly
to divert consumers.
- Respondent
has not been commonly known by the Domain Names.
- Respondent
registered and used the Domain Names in bad faith, as reflected by an
intentional attempt to attract Internet users to
its web site by creating a
likelihood of confusion with Complainant, the fact that Respondent had
constructive and/or actual notice
of Complainant’s rights before registering
the Domain Names, Respondent’s refusal to follow through on an agreement to
transfer the
<reditabs.com>
domain name to Complainant, and its demand for $30,000 in compensation for the
same.
B.
Respondent asserts as follows:
- Respondent
admits that Complainant is the owner of a valid trademark in REDITABS.
- Respondent
is not a competitor of Complainant, as Complainant uses REDITABS for
antihistamines and Respondent does not sell antihistamines.
- Respondent
did not intend to mislead and divert consumers to its website.
- Complainant
has failed to provide evidence that consumers were in fact diverted.
- Complainant
has failed to provide evidence that Respondent is not making a legitimate or
non-commercial fair use of the Domain Names.
- Complainant’s
annual report does not mention REDITABS.
- Complainant
“has not bothered” to register the domain names <reditabs.net> and <readytabs.net>.
C.
Additional Submissions
As
noted above, Respondent’s additional submission was reviewed by the Panel, but
is not considered to be persuasive.
FINDINGS
Complainant
provides evidence of United States federal trademark registrations for the mark
REDITABS, including Registration No. 2,097,797
(September 16, 1997) for rapidly
disintegrating tablets in the nature of a carrier preparation used as a
component for a pharmaceutical
preparation.
Complainant
extensively advertises its products under the REDITABS mark, resulting in
hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.
Respondent
registered the Domain Names on March 28, 2002, and, at various times, used web
sites at both Domain Names to sell Viagra®-related
tablets.
Respondent
has not been commonly known by the Domain Names.
Respondent’s
use of the Domain Names has been commercial in nature.
Prior
to registering the Domain Names, Respondent was under at least constructive
notice of Complainant’s rights in the REDITABS mark.
Respondent’s
use of the Domain Names has not been in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services.
Respondent
sought to sell the <reditabs.com>
domain name to Complainant for $30,000.
DISCUSSION
Paragraph 15(a) of the Rules for Uniform Domain Name
Dispute Resolution Policy (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.”
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;
(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.
Complainant has proven that it is the
owner of trademark rights in the mark REDITABS. Complainant’s registrations of its mark on the Principal Register
of the USPTO establish a presumption of validity of the marks under
United
States law. See 15 U.S.C. § 1057(b); Avery Dennison v. Sumpton,
[1999] USCA9 436; 189 F.3d 868 (9th Cir. 1999).[3] Additionally, the registrations constitute
constructive notice to all other parties of Complainant’s ownership of the
marks. See 15 U.S.C. § 1072.
In comparing Complainant’s mark to the
Domain Name, it is well established that the generic top-level domain, in this
case “.com,”
must be excluded from consideration as being a generic or
functional component of the Domain Name. See Sporty’s Farm v. Sportsman's
Market, [2000] USCA2 33; 202 F.3d 489, 498, (2d Cir. 2000).
The same is true of the prefix “www”.
See Reuters Ltd. v. Global Net 2000, Inc., D2000-0441 (WIPO July
13, 2000) (<wwwreuters.com> held confusingly similar to mark REUTERS).
The
remaining term in the first of the two Domain Names, reditabs, is identical to
Complainant’s registered trademark REDITABS.
The
remaining term in the second of the two Domain Names, readytabs, is
phonetically equivalent to Complainant’s REDITABS mark. As such, it is confusingly similar with
REDITABS. E.g., Dunkin’ Donuts, Inc. v. RandomThinkers, D2001-0104 (WIPO
Mar. 21, 2001) (domain name <dunkindoughnuts.com> phonetically equivalent
to, and confusingly similar to,
DUNKIN’ DONUTS mark); Hewlett-Packard Co. v.
Cupcake City, FA 93562 (Nat. Arb. Forum Apr. 7, 2000) (domain name
<hewlittpackard.com> held phonetically identical to, and confusingly
similar to, complainant’s mark HEWLETT PACKARD).
Accordingly,
the Panel finds that Complainant has demonstrated Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).
Complainant
contends that Respondent has not been commonly known by the Domain Names,
rendering Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii) inapplicable to
this dispute, and Respondent does
not contest this point.
Complainant
also contends that Respondent has not made a legitimate non-commercial or fair
use of the Domain Names, without intent
for commercial gain to misleadingly
divert consumers. Complainant therefore
argues that Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii) does not shield Respondent in this case. Respondent does not show any such fair use,
but contests this point on the grounds that Complainant has not come forward
with sufficient
evidence to disprove
a “legitimate, non-commercial or fair use” by Respondent. Without deciding the question of who bears
the burden of proof on this point, the Panel concludes that Respondent’s use
(selling Viagra®-related
tablets) is plainly commercial in nature, such that
Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii) is in fact inapplicable to this dispute.
The
remaining factor to be considered, Policy ¶ 4(c)(i), is whether, before any
notice to it of this dispute, Respondent used, or
made demonstrable
preparations to use, the Domain Names in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services. This factor presents a somewhat closer question, as Respondent
indisputably put the Domain Names to some use marketing Viagra®-related
tablets. Precedent interpreting Policy
¶ 4(c)(i), however, establishes that such use was not in fact bona fide.
Prior
to registering the Domain Names, Respondent was under at least constructive –
if not actual – notice of Complainant’s rights
in the REDITABS mark, which the
Panel finds has achieved a significant degree of renown. Under these circumstances, using Domain
Names confusingly similar to the REDITABS mark to sell a competing product[4]
in an apparent effort to trade on Complainant’s good will is not a bona fide use that creates a “legitimate
interest.” E.g., Computerized Sec. Sys., Inc. v. Hu, FA 157321 (Nat. Arb.
Forum June 23, 2003) (the respondent’s appropriation of the complainant’s mark
to market competing products
held not to constitute a bona fide offering of goods and services).
Finally,
some panels have found that a respondent’s willingness to sell the domain names
to the Complainant independently evidences
a lack of rights or legitimate
interest therein. E.g., Am. Nat’l Red
Cross v. Domains, FA 143684 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar. 4, 2003) (“Respondent’s lack of rights and legitimate
interests in the domain name is further evidenced by Respondent’s attempt to
sell its domain
name registration to Complainant, the rightful holder of the
RED CROSS mark.”). This Panel is not
prepared to hold that a willingness to sell a domain name necessarily
establishes the lack of rights or legitimate
interest in it. It is possible to register and use a domain
name in good faith, to make a legitimate use of it, and nonetheless to be
willing to sell
it if the price is right. Here, however, the facts give
Complainant a stronger argument than merely the presence of an offer to
sell. In correspondence, Respondent
twice conceded that it “had to” cease use of the Domain Names. (Ex. 20 and 22
to Complaint). The Panel finds these
admissions to add weight to Complainant’s showing that Respondent never
possessed (or even thought it possessed)
rights or legitimate interests in
respect of the Domain Names.
Accordingly,
the Panel finds that Complainant has made the showing required by Policy ¶
4(a)(ii).
Complainant
has established bad faith registration and use of the Domain Names in several
ways. First, Respondent reneged on a
commitment to effectuate a transfer. In
that respect, this case is similar to First Team Sports, Inc. v. Verrengia,
FA 96948 (Nat. Arb. Forum May 1, 2001), in which the panel found as
follows: “Based on correspondence
provided by Complainant, it is evident to the Panel that Respondent indicated
to Complainant that he was
willing to transfer at least one of the domain
names. However, when Complainant’s
attorneys drafted transfer documents, Respondent never effectuated the
transfer. Leading Complainant to
believe that a transfer is imminent, but failing to perfect the transfer is
evidence of bad faith registration
and use.”
Second,
Respondent’s notice (at least constructive) of Complainant’s rights in the
REDITABS mark further evidences that the Domain
Names were registered and used
in bad faith. Digi Int’l v. DDI Sys.,
FA 124506 (Nat. Arb. Forum Oct. 24, 2002) (“[T]here is a legal presumption of
bad faith, when Respondent reasonably should have
been aware of Complainant’s
trademarks, actually or constructively.”).
A
finding of bad faith is particularly appropriate in light of Respondent’s use
of the Domain Names to attract Internet users to its
site (posted at both of
the Domain Names) to sell products in competition with those offered by
Complainant under its REDITABS mark.
Computerized
Sec. Sys., supra (finding that the respondent’s use of the
<saflock.com> domain name to offer goods competing with the complainant’s
illustrated
bad faith).
Finally,
it is undisputed that Respondent offered to sell at least one of the Domain
Names to Complainant for $30,000 – a sum that
is substantially in excess of
Respondent’s documented out-of-pocket expenses directly related thereto. Registering a domain name primarily for the
purpose of selling it to a trademark owner at a price in excess of expenses is
a classic
example of bad faith. E.g.,
Cream Pie Club v. Halford, FA 95235 (Nat. Arb. Forum Aug. 17, 2000)
(finding bad faith where respondent offered to sell the domain name to the
complainant
for $125,000). While
offering to sell a domain name does not, standing alone, prove intent to offer
it for sale at the time of registration, the
facts and circumstances of this
case suggest that such an intent may well have been present here. Taken together with the reasons discussed
above, the Panel is persuaded that the Domain Names were registered and used in
bad faith.
Accordingly,
the Panel finds that Complainant has made the showing required by Policy ¶
4(a)(iii).
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 Domain Names be
TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Michael A. Albert, Panelist
Dated: November 7, 2003
WorldLII:
Copyright Policy
|
Disclaimers
|
Privacy Policy
|
Feedback
URL: http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/GENDND/2003/1036.html