State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Jim Porcari
Claim Number: FA0804001181041
Complainant is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“Complainant”), represented by Debra
J. Monke, of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance
Company,
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN
NAME
The domain name at issue is <segurodestatefarm.net>, registered with Network Solutions, Inc.
The undersigned certifies that he or she has acted independently and impartially and to the best of his or her knowledge has no known conflict in serving as Panelist in this proceeding.
Honorable Paul A. Dorf (Ret.) as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to
the National Arbitration Forum electronically on
On
On April
28, 2008, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative
Proceeding (the "Commencement Notification"), setting a deadline of
May 19, 2008
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@segurodestatefarm.net by e-mail.
Having received no response from Respondent, the National Arbitration Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On
Having reviewed the communications records, the Administrative Panel (the "Panel") finds that the National Arbitration 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 National Arbitration Forum's Supplemental Rules and any rules and principles of law that the Panel deems applicable, without the benefit of any response from Respondent.
Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
A. Complainant makes the following assertions:
1. Respondent’s <segurodestatefarm.net> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s STATE FARM mark.
2. Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the <segurodestatefarm.net> domain name.
3. Respondent registered and used the <segurodestatefarm.net> domain name in bad faith.
B. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
Complainant, State Farm Mutual Automobile, has conducted business under the STATE FARM mark since 1930. Complainant offers a wide variety of goods and services under the mark, including automobile insurance. Complainant holds a trademark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for the STATE FARM mark (Reg. No. 1,979,585 issued June 11, 1996).
Respondent registered the <segurodestatefarm.net>
domain name on
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 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. The Panel is entitled to accept all reasonable allegations and inferences set forth in the Complaint as true unless the evidence is clearly contradictory. See Vertical Solutions Mgmt., Inc. v. webnet-marketing, inc., FA 95095 (Nat. Arb. Forum July 31, 2000) (holding that the respondent’s failure to respond allows all reasonable inferences of fact in the allegations of the complaint to be deemed true); see also 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.”).
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.
The Panel finds Complainant has established rights to the
STATE FARM mark based upon its trademark registration and use in commerce since
1930. Therefore, the Panel easily
recognizes Complainant’s rights in the STATE FARM mark for the purposes of
Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).
Respondent’s <segurodestatefarm.net> domain name contains Complainant’s STATE FARM mark in its entirety. The addition of “seguro de” does not diminish the similarity because the phrase is a generic term in Spanish. The addition of the generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) “.net” is irrelevant since all domain names require a top-level domain. Therefore, the Panel finds that Respondent’s <segurodestatefarm.net> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s STATE FARM mark pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(i). See Quixtar Inv., Inc. v. Smithberger, D2000-0138 (WIPO Apr. 19, 2000) (finding that because the domain name <quixtar-sign-up.com> incorporates in its entirety the complainant’s distinctive mark, QUIXTAR, the domain name is confusingly similar); see also Caterpillar Inc. v. Quin, D2000-0314 (WIPO June 12, 2000) (finding that the disputed domain names <caterpillarparts.com> and <caterpillarspares.com> were confusingly similar to the registered trademarks CATERPILLAR and CATERPILLER DESIGN because “the idea suggested by the disputed domain names and the registered trademarks is that the goods or services offered in association with [the] domain name are manufactured by or sold by the Complainant or one of the Complainants [sic] approved distributors. The disputed trademarks contain one distinct component, the word Caterpillar”).
The Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(i)
has been satisfied.
Complainant claims that Respondent has neither rights nor
legitimate interests in the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii). Complainant
has the initial burden of showing that Respondent does not have rights or
legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. Once Complainant has made a prima facie case showing that Respondent
lacks rights and legitimate interests, the burden shifts to Respondent to show
that it does have rights or legitimate interests in the <segurodestatefarm.net> domain
name. The Panel finds that Complainant
has met the initial burden of showing that Respondent lacks rights and
legitimate interests, and therefore has made a prima facie case under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii). See Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires
v. Greenpeace Int’l, D2001-0376 (WIPO
Because Respondent failed to answer the Complaint, the Panel presumes that Respondent lacks all rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. See Am. Express Co. v. Fang Suhendro, FA 129120 (Nat. Arb. Forum Dec. 30, 2002) (“[B]ased on Respondent's failure to respond, it is presumed that Respondent lacks all rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.”); see also Desotec N.V. v. Jacobi Carbons AB, D2000-1398 (WIPO Dec. 21, 2000) (finding that failing to respond allows a presumption that the complainant’s allegations are true unless clearly contradicted by the evidence). Nevertheless, the Panel will examine all evidence in the record to determine if Respondent does have rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(c).
Complainant asserts that Respondent has never been
authorized to use the STATE FARM mark, and that Respondent is not and has never
been commonly known by the disputed domain name. Further, the WHOIS information does not
indicate that Respondent is commonly known by the disputed domain name. Thus, the Panel finds that Respondent is not
commonly known by the <segurodestatefarm.net>
domain name pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii). See Tercent Inc. v. Lee Yi,
FA 139720 (Nat. Arb. Forum
Respondent is using the <segurodestatefarm.net> domain name to advertise links to third-party competitors. The Panel finds that such use is not a bona fide offering of goods or services under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i) or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii). See DLJ Long Term Inv. Corp. v. BargainDomainNames.com, FA 104580 (Nat. Arb. Forum Apr. 9, 2002) (“Respondent is not using the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods and services because Respondent is using the domain name to divert Internet users to <visual.com>, where services that compete with Complainant are advertised.”); see also Ameritrade Holdings Corp. v. Polanski, FA 102715 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 11, 2002) (finding that the respondent’s use of the disputed domain name to redirect Internet users to a financial services website, which competed with the complainant, was not a bona fide offering of goods or services).
The Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii) has been satisfied.
The Panel finds that Respondent’s use of the <segurodestatefarm.net> domain name
to commercially gain by advertising links to competing services constitutes bad
faith registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii). See Disney Enters., Inc. v. Noel, FA 198805 (Nat. Arb. Forum
Complainant contends that Respondent is using the <segurodestatefarm.net> domain name
for commercial gain by advertising links to competing services, and benefiting
from the likely confusion between Complainant’s mark and the disputed domain
name. The Panel finds that the
similarity between the disputed domain name and the STATE FARM mark are likely
to create confusion as to Complainant’s source, sponsorship, affiliation, or
endorsement of the website that resolves from the disputed domain name which
constitutes bad faith registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv). See AltaVista
Co. v. Krotov, D2000-1091 (WIPO Oct. 25, 2000) (finding bad faith under
Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv) where the respondent’s domain name
resolved to a website that offered links to third-party websites that offered
services similar to the complainant’s services and merely took advantage of
Internet user mistakes); see also
The Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii) has been satisfied.
Having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <segurodestatefarm.net> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Honorable Paul A. Dorf (Ret.), Panelist
Dated: June 9, 2008
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