Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH
v. Modern Limited - Cayman Web Development
Claim Number: FA0211000133625
PARTIES
Complainant
is Boehringer Ingelheim International
GmbH, Ingelheim am Rhein, GERMANY (“Complainant”) represented by Timothy X. Witkowski. Respondent is Modern Limited - Cayman Web Development, Georgetown, Grand Cayman
, CAYMAN ISLANDS (“Respondent”) represented by Ari Goldberger, of ESQwire.com
Law Firm.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The
domain name at issue is <boehringeringelheim.com>,
registered with Address Creation.
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.
Bruce
Meyerson as Panelist.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Complainant
submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum (the “Forum”)
electronically on November 13, 2002; the Forum received a hard copy of the
Complaint on November 15, 2002.
On
November 19, 2002, Address Creation confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the
domain name <boehringeringelheim.com>
is registered with Address Creation and that the Respondent is the current
registrant of the name. Address
Creation has verified that Respondent is bound by the Address Creation
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
November 19, 2002, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of
Administrative Proceeding (the “Commencement Notification”), setting a deadline
of December 9, 2002 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@boehringeringelheim.com by e-mail.
A
timely Response was received and determined to be complete on December 9, 2002.
Complainant’s
additional submission was received on
December 11, 2002 and Respondent’s additional submission was received on
December 16, 2002.
On December 31, 2002, pursuant to Complainant’s request
to have the dispute decided by a single-member
Panel, the Forum appointed Bruce E.
Meyerson as Panelist.
RELIEF SOUGHT
Complainant
requests that the domain name be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
PARTIES’ CONTENTIONS
A. Complainant
Complainant presently markets
pharmaceutical products using U.S. registered trademarks having Registration
Nos. 2,096,336; 718,142; and 641,166 and claims to have invested substantial
sums of money in developing and marketing such products and has been doing so
for many decades. According to
Complainant, Respondent is the registrant of record for the domain name <boehringeringelheim.com>. Complainant contends that <boehringeringelheim.com> is
identical or confusingly similar to Complainant’s BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM®
trademarks.
B. Respondent
Respondent contends that when
it was served with the unofficial copy of the Complaint, and prior to official
notification of the Complaint and commencement of the proceedings, Respondent
offered to transfer the disputed domain name to Complainant immediately. Respondent contends that on or about
November 20, 2002, Respondent unilaterally transferred the domain name to
Complainant, changing all registrant and contact information to that of
Complainant. According to Respondent,
counsel for Complainant stated that it would not accept the voluntary transfer
and would continue with this proceeding.
C. Additional Submissions
Complainant
contends there are many significant reasons why a published decision and a
transfer by the Panel would be valuable to Complainant and that the Complainant
did not intend to forgo such a determination.
Respondent disputes the Complainant’s contentions.
FINDINGS
Respondent has stipulated that the
domain name may be transferred to Complainant.
DECISION
Respondent has stipulated that the domain
name <boehringeringelheim.com> be
transferred to Complainant, and, accordingly, the domain name <boehringeringelheim.com> is hereby TRANSFERRED
from Respondent Modern Limited - Cayman Web Development to Complainant
Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH
Bruce E. Meyerson, Panelist
Dated: January 9, 2003
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