State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Gail Williams c/o PrivateRegContact Admin
Claim Number: F A0805001191807
Complainant is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“Complainant”), represented by Debra J. Monke, of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Illinois, USA. Respondent is Gail Williams c/o PrivateRegContact Admin (“Respondent”), California, USA.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN
NAME
The domain name at issue is <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com>, registered with Melbourne It, Ltd. d/b/a Internet Names Worldwide.
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.
The Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.) as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum electronically on May 19, 2008; the National Arbitration Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on May 20, 2008.
On May 21, 2008, Melbourne It, Ltd. d/b/a Internet Names Worldwide confirmed by e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum that the <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> domain name is registered with Melbourne It, Ltd. d/b/a Internet Names Worldwide and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Melbourne It, Ltd. d/b/a Internet Names Worldwide has verified that Respondent is bound by the Melbourne It, Ltd. d/b/a Internet Names Worldwide 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 May 22, 2008, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the "Commencement Notification"), setting a deadline of June 11, 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@gailwilliamsstatefarm.com by e-mail.
Having received no response from Respondent, the National Arbitration Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On June 17, 2008, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National Arbitration Forum appointed the Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.) as Panelist.
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 <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s STATE FARM mark.
2. Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> domain name.
3. Respondent registered and used the <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> domain name in bad faith.
B. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
Complainant, State Farm, is a nationally known company that has been doing business under the name “State Farm” since 1930. Complainant conducts business in the insurance and financial industry and has established a national presence through several forms of media. Complainant holds the trademark STATE FARM with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (Reg. No. 1,979,585 registered June 11, 1996). In 1995, Complainant began using the <statefarm.com> domain name to establish its website.
Respondent registered the <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> domain name on January 15, 2007. Respondent’s disputed domain name resolves to a website that displays hyperlinks to several third-party websites and the phrase “This site is under construction.” Respondent’s website also supplies a means to search the Internet.
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 that Complainant’s trademark registration with the USPTO sufficiently establishes Complainant’s right in the STATE FARM mark pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(i). See Innomed Techs., Inc. v. DRP Servs., FA 221171 (Nat. Arb. Forum Feb. 18, 2004) (“Registration of the NASAL-AIRE mark with the USPTO establishes Complainant's rights in the mark.”); see also Janus Int’l Holding Co. v. Rademacher, D2002-0201 (WIPO Mar. 5, 2002) ("Panel decisions have held that registration of a mark is prima facie evidence of validity, which creates a rebuttable presumption that the mark is inherently distinctive.").
The Panel finds that Respondent’s <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s STATE FARM mark under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) because it contains Complainant’s entire mark and adds the term “gailwilliams” and the generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) “.com.” The addition of a generic term and gTLD does not render the domain name at issue distinct under the Policy. See Oki Data Ams., Inc. v. ASD, Inc., D2001-0903 (WIPO Nov. 6, 2001) (“[T]he fact that a domain name wholly incorporates a Complainant’s registered mark is sufficient to establish identity [sic] or confusing similarity for purposes of the Policy despite the addition of other words to such marks”); see also Am. Online Inc. v. Neticq.com Ltd., D2000-1606 (WIPO Feb. 12, 2001) (finding that the addition of the generic word “Net” to the complainant’s ICQ mark, makes the <neticq.com> domain name confusingly similar to the complainant’s mark); see also Rollerblade, Inc. v. McCrady, D2000-0429 (WIPO June 25, 2000) (finding that the top level of the domain name such as “.net” or “.com” does not affect the domain name for the purpose of determining whether it is identical or confusingly similar).
The Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) has been satisfied.
Complainant must first establish a prima facie case that Respondent lacks the rights and legitimate interests with respect to the <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> domain name. Once a prima facie case is established, the burden of proof shifts to Respondent to prove that it has rights or legitimate interests in the domain name at issue. See Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires v. Greenpeace Int’l, D2001-0376 (WIPO May 14, 2001) (“Proving that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name requires the Complainant to prove a negative. For the purposes of this sub paragraph, however, it is sufficient for the Complainant to show a prima facie case and the burden of proof is then shifted on to the shoulders of Respondent. In those circumstances, the common approach is for respondents to seek to bring themselves within one of the examples of paragraph 4(c) or put forward some other reason why they can fairly be said to have a relevant right or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name in question.”); see also G.D. Searle v. Martin Mktg., FA 118277 (Nat. Arb. Forum Oct. 1, 2002) (“Because Complainant’s Submission constitutes a prima facie case under the Policy, the burden effectively shifts to Respondent. Respondent’s failure to respond means that Respondent has not presented any circumstances that would promote its rights or legitimate interests in the subject domain name under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii).”).
Respondent is using the domain name <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> to merely display
hyperlinks to several third-party websites.
The Panel infers from Respondent’s use that it is collecting referral
fees for each misdirected Internet user.
The Panel infers that Respondent’s use of the disputed domain name to
redirect Internet users to Respondent’s site 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 Golden Bear Int’l, Inc. v. Kangdeock-ho, FA 190644 (Nat. Arb. Forum Oct. 17, 2003) (“Respondent's use of a domain name confusingly
similar to Complainant’s mark to divert Internet users to websites unrelated to
Complainant's business does not represent 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 also Computer
Doctor Franchise Sys., Inc. v. Computer Doctor, FA 95396 (Nat. Arb. Forum Sept. 8, 2000) (finding that the respondent’s website, which
is blank but for links to other websites, is not a legitimate use of the domain
names).
In addition, Respondent’s WHOIS information does not
indicate that Respondent is commonly known by the <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> domain name and there
is no other evidence in the record to suggest that Respondent is commonly known
by the disputed domain name.
Furthermore, Complainant asserts that Respondent is not authorized to
use Complainant’s STATE FARM mark and that Respondent is not associated with
Complainant in any way. See RMO, Inc. v. Burbridge, FA 96949 (Nat. Arb.
Forum May 16, 2001) (interpreting Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii) "to require a showing
that one has been commonly known by the domain name prior to registration of
the domain name to prevail"); see
also Charles Jourdan Holding AG v. AAIM,
D2000-0403 (WIPO June 27, 2000) (finding no rights or legitimate interests
where (1) the respondent is not a licensee of the complainant; (2) the
complainant’s prior rights in the domain name precede the respondent’s
registration; (3) the respondent is not commonly known by the domain name in
question). Therefore, the Panel finds
that Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name under ¶ 4(c)(ii).
Thus, the Panel finds that Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii) has been satisfied.
The Panel finds that Respondent registered and used the <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> domain name in bad faith because Respondent’s domain name
resolves to a website that contains links to third-party websites and a search
engine, and is capable of creating a likelihood of confusion with respect to
any possibility of Complainant’s endorsement of and/or affiliation with
Respondent’s website. Moreover, the
Panel infers that Respondent is capitalizing on this confusion through the
collection of click-through fees. The
Panel finds that Respondent’s use amounts to bad faith under Policy ¶
4(b)(iv). See Bank of Am. Corp. v.
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 <gailwilliamsstatefarm.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
The Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.), Panelist
Dated: June 24, 2007
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