American International Group, Inc. v.
RareNames, WebReg
Claim Number: FA0602000648253
PARTIES
Complainant is American International Group, Inc. (“Complainant”), represented by Caroline L. Stevens, Two Prudential Plaza, Suite 4900, Chicago, IL 60601. Respondent is RareNames, WebReg (“Respondent”), represented by Ari Goldberger, of ESQwire.com Law Firm, 35 Cameo Drive, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME(s)
The domain name at issue is <american-general-finance.com>,
registered with Domaindiscover.
PANEL
The undersigned certifies that he or she has acted independently and
impartially and to the best of his or her knowledge has no known conflict in
serving as Panelist in this proceeding.
Calvin A. Hamilton as Panelist.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum
electronically on February 17, 2006; the National Arbitration Forum received a
hard copy of the Complaint on February 20, 2006.
On February 21, 2006, Domaindiscover confirmed by e-mail to the
National Arbitration Forum that the <american-general-finance.com>
domain name is registered with Domaindiscover and that the Respondent is the
current registrant of the name. Domaindiscover
has verified that Respondent is bound by the Domaindiscover 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 February 21, 2006, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of
Administrative Proceeding (the “Commencement Notification”), setting a deadline
of March 13, 2006 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@american-general-finance.com by e-mail.
A timely Response was received and determined to be complete on March 12,
2006.
On March 23, 2006, pursuant to Complainant’s
request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the National
Arbitration Forum appointed Calvin A. Hamilton as Panelist.
RELIEF SOUGHT
Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from
Respondent to Complainant.
PARTIES’ CONTENTIONS
A. Complainant
1. The domain name that Respondent registered, <american-general-finance.com>, is identical or confusingly similar to Complainant’s protected mark.
2. Respondent has no rights to or legitimate interests in the mark contained in its entirety in the disputed domain name.
3. Respondent registered and is using the domain name containing Complainant’s protected mark in bad faith.
B. Respondent
Although Respondent disputes the factual allegations raised in the
Complaint having registered the domain name <american-general-finance.com>
in good faith, Respondent,
nevertheless, stipulates an immediate transfer of the domain name at issue to
Complainant.
Respondent registered the domain name without any knowledge of Complainant or its mark at the time it registered <american-general-finance.com>.
The domain name is not critical to
Respondent’s business and consents to the transfer of the domain name to
Complainant in the interest of saving the cost involved in defending its
rights.
FINDINGS
Respondent has stipulated that the domain
name may be transferred to Complainant in order to efficiently resolve this dispute, although Respondent failed to answer
Complainant’s letters of November 29, 2005 and December 29, 2005 (Exhibits D
and E of Complaint) and thereby failed to avoid the necessity of UDRP
proceedings.
DISCUSSION
Paragraph 15(a) of the Rules for Uniform Domain
Name Dispute Resolution Policy (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 the 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 the Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark
or service mark in which the Complainant has rights;
(2)
the 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.
Although Respondent disputes Complainant’s assertions that Respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests and that the domain name was registered and used in bad faith, Respondent has agreed to transfer the <american-general-finance.com> domain name to Complainant in satisfaction of Complainant’s requested remedy. When a respondent has agreed to comply with the complainant’s request, the Panel may decide to forego the traditional UDRP analysis and summarily order the transfer of the domain names. See Boehringer Ingelheim Int’l GmbH v. Modern Ltd. – Cayman Web Dev., FA 133625 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 9, 2003) (transferring the domain name registration where the respondent stipulated to the transfer); see also Malev Hungarian Airlines, Ltd. v. Vertical Axis Inc., FA 212653 (Nat Arb. Forum Jan. 13, 2004) (“In this case, the parties have both asked for the domain name to be transferred to the Complainant….Since the requests of the parties in this case are identical, the Panel has no scope to do anything other than to recognize the common request, and it has no mandate to make findings of fact or of compliance (or not) with the Policy.”); see also Disney Enters., Inc. v. Morales, FA 475191 (Nat. Arb. Forum June 24, 2005) (“[U]nder such circumstances, where Respondent has agreed to comply with Complainant’s request, the Panel felt it to be expedient and judicial to forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order the transfer of the domain names.”); see also Mary Frances Accessories, Inc. v. Shoe Salon, FA 528458 (Nat. Arb. Forum Sept. 6, 2005); see also Dame Elizabeth Taylor, The Elizabeth Taylor Cosmetics Company & Interplanet Productions Limited v. K Myers, FA0508000547795
(Nat. Arb. Forum Oct. 18, 2005).
DECISION
In light of Respondent’s agreement to transfer the disputed domain
name, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <american-general-finance.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to
Complainant.
Calvin A. Hamilton, Panelist
Dated: April 6, 2006
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