Virgin Enterprises Limited v. George Billis et al.
Claim Number: FA1604001670610
Complainant: Virgin Enterprises Limited of London, United Kingdom.
Complainant Representative: Stobbs of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Respondent: George Billis of New York, New York, US.
REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS
Registries: The City of New York by and through the New York City Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications
Registrars: GoDaddy.com, LLC
The undersigned certifies that he has acted independently and impartially and to the best of his knowledge has no known conflict in serving as Examiner in this proceeding.
Honorable Karl V. Fink (Ret.), as Examiner.
Complaint submitted: April 15, 2016
Commencement: April 18, 2016
Response Date: April 30, 2016
Having reviewed the communications records, the Examiner finds that the Forum has discharged its responsibility under URS Procedure Paragraphs 3 and 4 and Rule 4 of the Rules for the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (the "Rules").
PROCEDURAL FINDINGS
This proceeding features a sole Complainant regarding two domain names. No domain names are dismissed from this complaint.
Although the complaint refers to Respondent as “George Billis et al.,” this proceeding features a sole Respondent regarding the domain names.
Complainant requests that the domain names be suspended for the life of the registration.
Clear and convincing evidence.
URS Procedure 1.2.6, requires Complainant to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, each of the following three elements to obtain an order that a domain name should be suspended.
1.2.6.1. that the registered domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a word mark: (i) for which the Complainant holds a valid national or regional registration and that is in current use; or (ii) that has been validated through court proceedings; or (iii) that is specifically protected by a statute or treaty in effect at the time the .usURS complaint is filed.
1.2.6.2. that the Registrant has no legitimate right or interest to the domain name
1.2.6.3. that the domain was registered or is being used in bad faith.
After reviewing the parties’ submissions, the Examiner determines that Complainant has demonstrated all three elements of the URS by a standard of clear and convincing evidence.
Complainant owns rights in the VIRGIN, VIRGIN AMERICA, and VIRGIN ATLANTIC trademarks. The domain names each are identical to Complainant’s marks. The additional of the generic top-level domain “.nyc” does not distinguish the domain names from the marks.
Complainant has not authorized Respondent to use its registered trademarks. Complainant submits evidence that the domain names resolve to non-active websites. Complainant has established that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interest in the disputed domain names.
The domains were registered and are being used in bad faith. The Examiner finds that Respondent had Complainant in mind when registering the disputed domain names and that Respondent registered the domain names to be used to intentionally attract internet users seeking Complainant’s website for commercial gain.
The Examiner further determines that there is no evidence to support Respondent’s contention that the Complaint was brought in an abuse of the URS process or contains material falsehoods.
The Examiner hereby ORDERS the following domain names be SUSPENDED for the duration of the registration.
Honorable Karl V. Fink (Ret.), Examiner
Dated: May 03, 2016
Click Here to return to the main Domain Decisions Page.
Click Here to return to our Home Page