Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. v. Petroleo Brasileiro S/A c/o Domain Admin
Claim Number: FA0807001217137
Complainant is Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (“Complainant”), represented by Cristina
A. Carvalho, of Arent Fox LLP,
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN
NAME
The domain name at issue is <petrobrs.com>, registered with Nameview, Inc.
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.
James A. Carmody, Esq., as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum electronically on July 23, 2008; the National Arbitration Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on July 24, 2008.
On July 31, 2008, Nameview, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the National Arbitration Forum that the <petrobrs.com> domain name is registered with Nameview, Inc. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Nameview, Inc. has verified that Respondent is bound by the Nameview, Inc. 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 August
11, 2008, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative
Proceeding (the "Commencement Notification"), setting a deadline of September
1, 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@petrobrs.com by e-mail.
Having received no response from Respondent, the National Arbitration Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On September 10, 2008, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National Arbitration Forum appointed James A. Carmody, Esq., 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 <petrobrs.com> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s PETROBRAS mark.
2. Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the <petrobrs.com> domain name.
3. Respondent registered and used the <petrobrs.com> domain name in bad faith.
B. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
Complainant, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., is one of the largest oil and energy companies in the world. Complainant is present in 27 countries offering goods and services related TO oil, oil byproduct, natural gas, and ethanol exploration, production, refining, marketing, and transportation. Since 1953, Complainant has sold its products under the PETROBRAS mark and holds several registrations in various countries including a registration with the European Union’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (“OHIM”) (Reg. No. 3,068,211, issued May 12, 2004).
Respondent registered the <petrobrs.com> domain name on August 31, 2005. The disputed domain name resolves to a website that displays several hyperlinks to various third-party websites, some of which are in direct competition with Complainant.
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 has sufficiently established rights in the PETROBRAS mark under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) because Complainant holds a registration of the mark with the OHIM. See Koninklijke KPN N.V. v. Telepathy Inc., D2001-0217 (WIPO May 7, 2001) (finding that the Policy does not require that the mark be registered in the country in which the respondent operates; therefore it is sufficient that the complainant can demonstrate a mark in some jurisdiction); 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 <petrobrs.com>
domain name merely removes the letter “a” from Complainant’s PETROBRAS
mark. Therefore, the Panel finds that
the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the mark under Policy ¶
4(a)(i). See Bama Rags, Inc. v.
Zuccarini, FA 94380 (Nat. Arb. Forum May 8, 2000) (finding that
<davemathewsband.com> is a common misspelling of the DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
mark and therefore confusingly similar); see
also Am.
Airlines, Inc. v. Data Art Corp.,
FA 94908 (Nat. Arb. Forum July 11, 2000) (finding <americanairline.com>
"effectively identical and certainly confusingly similar" to the
complainant's AMERICAN AIRLINES registered marks).
The Panel finds that
Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) has been satisfied.
In the beginning, Complainant must make a prima facie showing that Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests in the <petrobrs.com> domain name. Then the burden shifts to Respondent and Respondent must establish that it has rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. The Panel finds that Complainant has sufficiently made a prima facie showing under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii). 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’s website that resolves from the disputed domain name displays hyperlinks to various third-party websites, some of which are in direct competition with Complainant. The Panel infers that Respondent receives click-through fees for these hyperlinks. Therefore, the Panel finds this use is not a bona fide offering of goods and services under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i) or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii). See Disney Enters., Inc. v. Dot Stop, FA 145227 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar. 17, 2003) (finding that the respondent’s diversionary use of the complainant’s mark to attract Internet users to its own website, which contained a series of hyperlinks to unrelated websites, was neither a bona fide offering of goods or services nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain names); 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).
Furthermore, Respondent’s WHOIS information does not indicate
that it is commonly known by the <petrobrs.com>
domain name, and Respondent has not provided any information to suggest
otherwise. Thus, the Panel finds that
Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name under Policy ¶
4(c)(ii). See Wells Fargo
& Co. v. Onlyne Corp. Services11, Inc.,
FA 198969 (Nat. Arb. Forum Nov. 17, 2003) (“Given the WHOIS contact information
for the disputed domain [name], one can infer that Respondent, Onlyne Corporate
Services11, is not commonly known by the name ‘welsfargo’ in any derivation.”);
see also Ian Schrager Hotels, L.L.C. v. Taylor, FA 173369 (Nat. Arb.
Forum Sept. 25, 2003) (finding that without demonstrable evidence to support
the assertion that a respondent is commonly known by a domain name, the assertion
must be rejected).
Finally, Respondent’s <petrobrs.com> domain name takes
advantage of a misspelling of Complainant’s PETROBRAS mark, a practice commonly
known as typosquatting. Thus, the Panel
finds that Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests in the disputed
domain name under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii). See Nat’l
Ass’n of Prof’l Baseball Leagues, Inc. v. Zuccarini, D2002-1011
(WIPO Jan. 21, 2003) (“Typosquatting … as a means of redirecting consumers
against their will to another site, does not qualify as a bona fide offering of
goods or services, whatever may be the goods or services offered at that
site.”); see also LTD Commodities LLC v. Party Night, Inc., FA 165155 (Nat. Arb. Forum Aug. 14,
2003) (finding that the <ltdcommadities.com>, <ltdcommmodities.com>,
and <ltdcommodaties.com> domain names were intentional misspellings
of Complainant's LTD COMMODITIES mark and this “‘typosquatting’ is evidence
that Respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain names”).
The Panel finds that Policy ¶
4(a)(ii) has been satisfied.
Respondent uses the confusingly similar <petrobrs.com> domain name to divert
Internet users to its website.
Therefore, the Panel finds that this activity is evidence of bad faith
registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii).
See S. Exposure
v. S. Exposure, Inc., FA 94864 (Nat. Arb. Forum July 18, 2000) (finding the
respondent acted in bad faith by attracting Internet users to a website that
competes with the complainant’s business); Puckett, Individually v. Miller,
D2000-0297 (WIPO June 12, 2000) (finding that the respondent has diverted
business from the complainant to a competitor’s website in violation of Policy
¶ 4(b)(iii)).
Respondent uses the confusingly similar disputed domain name
to receive click-through fees.
Accordingly, the Panel finds that this activity is evidence of bad faith
registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv).
See Kmart v. Khan, FA 127708 (Nat. Arb. Forum Nov. 22, 2002)
(finding that if the respondent profits from its diversionary use of the
complainant's mark when the domain name resolves to commercial websites and the
respondent fails to contest the complaint, it may be concluded that the
respondent is using the domain name in bad faith pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv)); see also Drs. Foster & Smith, Inc. v. Lalli,
FA 95284 (Nat. Arb. Forum Aug. 21, 2000) (finding bad faith where the
respondent directed Internet users seeking the complainant’s site to its own
website for commercial gain).
In addition, Respondent
is using a typosquatted version of Complainant’s PETROBRAS mark in its <petrobrs.com> domain name. The Panel finds that the use of this
typosquatted disputed domain name is evidence of Respondent’s bad faith
registration and use under Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii).
See Sports
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 <petrobrs.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
James A. Carmody, Esq., Panelist
Dated: September 23, 2008
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