Snap Inc. v. ABDULAZIZ ABDULLAH / AHMED ABDULLAH / ABDULLAH KHALED
Claim Number: FA1803001774603
Complainant is Snap Inc. (“Complainant”), represented by Peter Kidd of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, California, USA. Respondent is ABDULAZIZ ABDULLAH / AHMED ABDULLAH / ABDULLAH KHALED (“Respondent”), Saudi Arabia.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAMES
The domain names at issue are <snapchatverify.com>, <teamsnapchatverify.com>, and <accountsnapchatverfiy.com>, registered with eNom, 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 Panelist in this proceeding.
Debrett G. Lyons as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the Forum electronically on March 5, 2018; the Forum received payment on March 5, 2018.
On March 7, 2018, eNom, LLC confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <snapchatverify.com>, <teamsnapchatverify.com>, and <accountsnapchatverfiy.com> domain names are registered with eNom, LLC and that Respondent is the current registrant of the names. eNom, LLC has verified that Respondent is bound by the eNom, LLC 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 March 9, 2018, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of March 29, 2018 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@snapchatverify.com, postmaster@teamsnapchatverify.com, postmaster@accountsnapchatverfiy.com. Also on March 9, 2018, 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 March 30, 2018, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed Debrett G. Lyons 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 names be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.
A. Complainant
Complainant asserts trademark rights in SNAPCHAT and submits that the disputed domain names are confusingly similar to its trademark.
Complainant alleges that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain names.
Complainant alleges that Respondent registered the disputed domain names in bad faith.
B. Respondent
Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
The factual findings pertinent to the decision in this case are that:
1. Complainant offers a multimedia messaging app under the trademark SNAPCHAT;
2. Complainant is the owner of, inter alia, United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) Reg. No. 4,375,712, registered July 30, 2013 for the trademark SNAPCHAT;
3. the disputed domain names were registered on the following dates: <snapchatverify.com> on October 21, 2017; <teamsnapchatverify.com> on November 1, 2017 and <accountsnapchatverfiy.com> on February 4, 2018;
4. the disputed domain names resolve to websites that mirror the login page at Complainant’s official website;
5. there is no relationship between the parties and Complainant has not authorised Respondent to use the trademark or to register any domain name incorporating the trademark.
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."
Preliminary Issue: Multiple Respondents
Paragraph 3(c) of the Rules provides that a “complaint may relate to more than one domain name, provided that the domain names are registered by the same domain name holder.”
Complainant alleges that the domain name holders are either aliases for one person or entity, or are effectively controlled by the one person or entity. In support thereof, Complainant argues that the domain names are under common control because (1) they each fully incorporate Complainant’s trademark with the addition of the same generic term “verify” (or mistyped “verfiy”); (2) they resolve to identical websites; (3) the listed holders each have the first or last name “Abdullah” and the same contact telephone number, and are located in Saudi Arabia; (4) they share the same registrar, Enom Inc. and the same name server, ExaServers.com.
Based on those facts, the Panel finds sufficient evidence that, for the purposes of paragraph 3(c) of the Rules, the disputed domain names were registered by the one entity. Hereinafter, the term “Respondent” is used to refer collectively to the registrants of the disputed domain names.
Primary Issues
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(f), 14(a) and 15(a) of the Rules and draw such inferences it considers appropriate pursuant to paragraph 14(b) of the Rules.
Paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy requires a two-fold enquiry—a threshold investigation into whether a complainant has rights in a trademark, followed by an assessment of whether the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to that trademark.
It is well established by decisions under this Policy that a trademark registered with a national authority is evidence of trademark rights (see, for example, Mothers Against Drunk Driving v. phix, FA 174052 (Forum Sept. 25, 2003)). Complainant therefore has rights since it provides proof of its registration of SNAPCHAT with the USPTO, a national trademark authority.
For the purposes of comparison of the disputed domain name with the trademark the gTLD, “.com”, can be disregarded (see, for example, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Antigua Domains, FA 1073020 (Forum Oct. 17, 2007) (“[T]he inclusion of the generic top-level domain ‘.com’ is inconsequential to the Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) analysis, as a top-level domain is required of all domain names.”)). The disputed domain names take the whole of the trademark and make trivial additions thereto by way of appending terms with a direct descriptive reference to Complainant’s business under the trademark. The additions made to the trademark by the domain names do not distinguish the domain names from the trademark; if anything, they compound the likely confusion (see, for example, Microsoft Corporation v. Thong Tran Thanh, FA 1653187 (Forum Jan. 21, 2016) finding confusing similarity existed where the disputed domain name differed from the trademark only by the addition of a generic or descriptive phrase; YETI Coolers, LLC v. Randall Bearden, FA 16060016880755 (Forum Aug. 10, 2016) finding that the words “powder coating” in the <yetipowdercoating.com> domain name are “merely explicative and directly refer to some of the services rendered by the Complainant”).
The Panel finds each of the disputed domain names to be confusingly similar to the trademark and therefore finds that Complainant has satisfied the requirements of paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy.
Paragraph 4(c) of the Policy states that any of the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to be proved based on its evaluation of all evidence presented, shall demonstrate rights or legitimate interests to a domain name for purposes of paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the Policy:
(i) before any notice to you of the dispute, your use of, or demonstrable preparations to use, the domain name or a name corresponding to the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services; or
(ii) you (as an individual, business, or other organization) have been commonly known by the domain name, even if you have acquired no trademark or service mark rights; or
(iii) you are making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert consumers or to tarnish the trade mark or service mark at issue.
Complainant need only make out a prima facie case that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain names, after which the onus shifts to Respondent to rebut that case by demonstrating those rights or interests (see, for example, Do The Hustle, LLC v. Tropic Web, D2000‑0624 (WIPO Aug. 21, 2000)).
The WHOIS information for Respondent do not suggest that Respondent is commonly known by the domain names. There is no evidence that Respondent has any trademark rights and Complainant states that there is no association between the parties. The evidence is that the disputed domain names are used for a nefarious purpose – i.e. – to phish for sensitive log-in information of those normally using Complainant’s app. Accordingly, the Panel finds that Respondent has not made any bona fide offering of goods or services or any legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name (see, for example, Google Inc. v. Pritam Singh / Pandaje Technical Services Pvt Ltd., FA 1660771 (Forum Mar. 17, 2016) finding that respondent has not shown any bona fide offering of goods or services or any legitimate noncommercial or fair use under Policy ¶¶ 4(c)(i) or (iii) as the respondent used the complainant’s mark and logo on a resolving website containing offers for technical support and password recovery services, and soliciting Internet users’ personal information).
A prima facie case has been made. The onus shifts to Respondent and in the absence of a Response, Panel finds that Respondent has no rights or interests and so finds that Complainant has satisfied the second limb of the Policy in respect of each of the disputed domain names.
Complainant must prove on the balance of probabilities both that the disputed domain names were registered in bad faith and used in bad faith.
Further guidance on that requirement is found in paragraph 4(b) of the Policy, which sets out four circumstances, any one of which is taken to be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name in bad faith if established.
The four specified circumstances are:
‘(i) circumstances indicating that the respondent has registered or acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of the respondent’s documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or
(ii) the respondent has registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that Respondent has engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
(iii) the respondent has registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
(iv) by using the domain name, respondent has intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, internet users to respondent’s website or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant’s mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of the respondent’s website or location or of a product or service on the site or location.’
The Panel finds that Respondent’s actions fall squarely under paragraph 4(b)(iv). The Panel finds that Respondent has intentionally attracted for commercial gain Internet users otherwise seeking Complainant or Complainant’s services to its website or a competitive online location.
Panel finds that Complainant has satisfied the third and final element of the Policy.
Having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <snapchatverify.com>, <teamsnapchatverify.com> and <accountsnapchatverfiy.com> domain names be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Debrett G. Lyons, Panelist
Dated: April 4, 2018
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