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Antonio de Felipe v. Registerfly.com [2005] GENDND 2102 (19 December 2005)

World Intellectual Property Organization

WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION

Antonio de Felipe v. Registerfly.com

Case No. D2005-0969

1. The Parties

1.1 The Complainant is Antonio de Felipe, Madrid, Spain, represented by UBILIBET, Spain.

1.2 The Respondent is Registerfly.com, New Jersey, United States of America.

2. The Domain Name and Registrar

2.1 The disputed domain name <antoniodefelipe.com> (the “Disputed Domain Name”) is registered with eNom (the “Registrar”).

3. Procedural History

3.1 A Complaint in the Spanish language was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on September 12, 2005. On September 12, 2005, the Center transmitted by email to eNom a request for registrar verification in connection with the domain name at issue. On September 16, 2005, eNom transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that the Respondent is listed as the registrant and providing the contact details for the administrative, billing, and technical contact. The Complaint was submitted in English according with the language of registration agreement, on October 11, 2005. The Center verified that 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”).

3.2 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 October 27, 2005.

3.3 In accordance with the Rules, Paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was November 16, 2005. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on November 21, 2005.

3.4 The Center appointed Matthew S. Harris as the sole panelist in this matter on December 5, 2005. The Panel finds that it was properly constitued. 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.

3.5 The Center appointed the Panel in compliance with Paragraph 7(c) of the Supplemental Rules and, under Paragraphs 5(e) and 14(a) of the Rules, the effect of the default by the Respondent is that the Panel shall proceed to a decision without the benefit of any Response from Respondent.

4. Factual Background

4.1 The Disputed Domain Name is <antoniodefelipe.com>.

4.2 The Complainant is Antonio de Felipe, a Spanish born and resident career artist.

4.3 The Respondent, Registerfly.com, is an Internet domain names registrar headquartered in the United States of America.

4.4 The Disputed Domain Name resolves to a Spanish language website <gifmania.com> which is a site for downloading items such as screen savers and polyphonic ringtones. The Whois data for the Disputed Domain Name and <gifmania.com> list the registrant contact as the Respondent, however, the administrative and technical contacts given for the Disputed Domain Name are webmaster@tecnopolis.net and for <gifmania.com> are info@tecnopolis.net. Like <gifmania.com>, the <tecnopolis.net> website is a site for downloading electronic items. The Whois data for <tecnopolis.net> lists the registrant, administrative and technical contacts as “NA”.

5. Parties’ Contentions

A. Complainant

5.1 The Complainant’s factual and legal contentions can be summarized as follows.

Identical or Confusingly Similar

5.2 The Disputed Domain Name, <antoniodefelipe.com>, is identical to the Complainant’s name.

5.3 The Complainant does not possess any trademark registrations for “ANTONIO DE FELIPE”.

5.4 The Complainant states that he has had more than 40 individual exhibitions in Spain and abroad and cites some of the most noteworthy of these as being at various galleries in Spain including the Casa de Vacas and the Levy Gallery in Madrid; the María José Castellví Gallery in Barcelona; the Museum of the City of Valencia and the Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa Foundation. His body of work includes a series devoted to Velázquez; portraits based on famous personalities such as Cindy Crawford and Mother Teresa; and “The Cows” (“Las Vacas”), amongst which is one of his most well known works, “The Coca-Cola Cow” (“La Vaca Coca-Cola”).

5.5 The Complainant states that, with regard to his exposure abroad; his exhibits in the Levy Gallery in Hamburg are especially noteworthy; he regularly participates in the ARCO, Art Cologne and Art Brussels fairs and that his work is present in major public and private collections. He exhibits to his Complaint details of further exhibitions of his work held in other countries.

5.6 The Complainant considers himself a multidisciplinary artist. Aside from painting and sculpture, he has collaborated with Pedro Almodóvar on the film Carne Trémula (Trembling Flesh); designed curtains for Telemadrid; created a crockery set for the Santa Clara company and has published in major newspapers and magazines, such as ByN Dominical (the Sunday magazine for the ABC newspaper), El País, El Mundo newspaper’s El Magazine, Marie-Claire, Elle and Rolling Stone magazine.

5.7 The Complainant owns the following domain names: <antoniodefelipe.es>; <antoniodefelipe.net>; <antoniodefelipe.org>; <antoniodefelipe.info> and <antoniodefelipe.biz>.