World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. v. Shahriar Hossain / mspagol
Claim Number: FA1506001622813
Complainant is World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (“Complainant”), represented by Matthew C. Winterroth of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., Connecticut, USA. Respondent is Shahriar Hossain / mspagol (“Respondent”), Bangladesh.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <watchwwelive.net>, registered with Name.com, 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.
The Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.) as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the Forum electronically on June 4, 2015; the Forum received payment on June 5, 2015.
On June 4, 2015, Name.com, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <watchwwelive.net> domain name is registered with Name.com, Inc. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Name.com, Inc. has verified that Respondent is bound by the Name.com, Inc. registration agreement and has thereby agreed to resolve domain disputes brought by third parties in accordance with ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy”).
On June 5, 2015, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of June 25, 2015 by which Respondent could file a Response to the Complaint, via e-mail to all entities and persons listed on Respondent’s registration as technical, administrative, and billing contacts, and to postmaster@watchwwelive.net. Also on June 5, 2015, the Written Notice of the Complaint, notifying Respondent of the e-mail addresses served and the deadline for a Response, was transmitted to Respondent via post and fax, to all entities and persons listed on Respondent’s registration as technical, administrative and billing contacts.
Having received no response from Respondent, the Forum transmitted to the parties a Notification of Respondent Default.
On July 1, 2015, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed the Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.) as Panelist.
Having reviewed the communications records, the Administrative Panel (the "Panel") finds that the 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" through submission of Electronic and Written Notices, as defined in Rule 1 and Rule 2. Therefore, the Panel may issue its decision based on the documents submitted and in accordance with the ICANN Policy, ICANN Rules, the 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
Complainant World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (“WWE”) is an integrated media organization, a recognized leader in global entertainment, and a publicly traded company. Complainant has registered the WWE mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (e.g., Reg. No. 27,772,683, registered May 7, 2002), which demonstrates its rights in the mark. The <watchwwelive.net> domain name is confusingly similar to the WWE mark, as the domain name merely adds generic terms like “watch” and “live” and the “.net” generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) to the WWE mark.
Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <watchwwelive.net> domain name. Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name or any variant of the WWE mark. Further, Respondent is not making a bona fide offering of goods or services through the disputed domain name, nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use. Rather, Respondent uses the disputed domain name for its own commercial gain via pay-per-click advertisements offered on the resolving website.
Respondent has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith. First, Respondent’s use of the disputed domain name disrupts Complainant’s business. Additionally, Respondent uses the disputed domain name to intentionally attract Internet users to its own website for commercial gain. Finally, due to Complainant’s fame and numerous trademark registrations, Respondent must have had at least constructive knowledge of Complainant’s rights in the WWE mark.
B. Respondent
Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
Complainant World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (“WWE”) is an integrated media organization, a recognized leader in global entertainment, and a publicly traded company. Complainant has registered the WWE mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (e.g., Reg. No. 27,772,683, registered May 7, 2002), which demonstrates its rights in the mark.
Respondent, Shahriar Hossain / mspagol, registered the <watchwwelive.net> domain name on April 25, 2014. Respondent uses the disputed domain name for its own commercial gain via pay-per-click advertisements offered on the resolving website.
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."
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.
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.”).
Complainant has rights in the WWE mark under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i)) through registration with the USPTO. See Trip Network Inc. v. Alviera, FA 914943 (Nat. Arb. Forum Mar. 27, 2007) (determining that the complainant’s trademark registrations with the USPTO for the CHEAPTICKETS and CHEAPTICKETS.COM marks were adequate to establish its rights in the mark pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(i)).
Respondent’s <watchwwelive.net> domain name is confusingly similar to the WWE mark as the domain name merely adds terms like “watch” and “live” and the “.net” gTLD.
Complainant must first make a prima facie case that Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii), and then the burden shifts to Respondent to show it does have rights or legitimate interests. See Hanna-Barbera Prods., Inc. v. Entm’t Commentaries, FA 741828 (Nat. Arb. Forum Aug. 18, 2006) (holding that the complainant must first make a prima facie case that the respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name under UDRP ¶ 4(a)(ii) before the burden shifts to the respondent to show that it does have rights or legitimate interests in a domain name).
Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <watchwwelive.net> domain name. Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii). Complainant has not authorized Respondent to use the WWE mark. The WHOIS information lists “Shahriar Hossain” as registrant.. See IndyMac Bank F.S.B. v. Eshback, FA 830934 (Nat. Arb. Forum Dec. 7, 2006) (finding that the respondent failed to establish rights and legitimate interests in the <emitmortgage.com> domain name as the respondent was not authorized to register domain names featuring the complainant’s mark and failed to submit evidence that it is commonly known by the domain name).
Respondent is not making a bona fide offering of goods or services through the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i), nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii). Respondent registered and is currently using the <watchwwelive.net> domain name for its own commercial gain via pay-per-click advertisements. See Vance Int’l, Inc. v. Abend, FA 970871 (Nat. Arb. Forum June 8, 2007) (concluding that the operation of a pay-per-click website at a confusingly similar domain name does not represent a bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use, regardless of whether or not the links resolve to competing or unrelated websites or if the respondent is itself commercially profiting from the click-through fees).
Additionally, Respondent’s website contains unlicensed content identical to the legitimate copyrighted commercial content offered by WWE. Such use is not a bona fide offering of goods or service pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(i). See G.D. Searle & Co. v. Mahony, FA 112559 (Nat. Arb. Forum June 12, 2002) (finding the respondent’s use of the disputed domain name to solicit pharmaceutical orders without a license or authorization from the complainant does not constitute a bona fide offering of goods or services under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i)).
Respondent has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith. First, Respondent’s use of the disputed domain name disrupts Complainant’s business, which is thus evidence of bad faith pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii). Specifically, Respondent uses the disputed domain name to offer advertisements to watch unlicensed videos featuring Complainant’s business. Such use shows bad faith under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii). See David Hall Rare Coins v. Tex. Int’l Prop. Assocs., FA 915206 (Nat. Arb. Forum Apr. 9, 2007) (finding that the respondent registered and used the disputed domain name in bad faith pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii) because respondent used the disputed domain name to advertise goods and services of complainant’s competitors, thereby disrupting the complainant’s business).
Respondent uses the confusingly similar domain name to intentionally attract Internet users to its own website for commercial gain which is bad faith under Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv). See ESPN, Inc. v. Ballerini, FA 95410 (Nat. Arb. Forum Sept. 15, 2000) (finding bad faith where the respondent linked the domain name to another domain name, <iwin.com>, presumably receiving a portion of the advertising revenue from the site by directing Internet traffic there, thus using a domain name to attract Internet users for commercial gain). .
Finally, due to Complainant’s numerous trademark registrations and the fame of its WWE mark, Respondent had knowledge of Complainant and its rights in the WWE mark when it registered the disputed domain name. Further, Respondent was using the disputed domain name to offer unlicensed material from Complainant’s own business. Therefore, Respondent registered the disputed domain name in bad faith under Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii). See Yahoo! Inc. v. Butler, FA 744444 (Nat. Arb. Forum Aug. 17, 2006) (finding bad faith where the respondent was "well-aware of the complainant's YAHOO! mark at the time of registration)."
Complainant having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <watchwwelive.net> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
The Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.), Panelist
Dated: July 15, 2015
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