YETI Coolers, LLC v. Hanna Stafford
Claim Number: FA1606001678720
Complainant is YETI Coolers, LLC (“Complainant”), represented by Katherine Laatsch Fink of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., Illinois, USA. Respondent is Hanna Stafford (“Respondent”), Canada.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <yeticoolers.info>, registered with Register.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 8, 2016; the Forum received payment on June 8, 2016.
On June 9, 2016, Register.com, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <yeticoolers.info> domain name is registered with Register.com, Inc. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. Register.com, Inc. has verified that Respondent is bound by the Register.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 9, 2016, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of June 29, 2016 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@yeticoolers.info. Also on June 9, 2016, 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 6, 2016, 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 uses the YETI mark in connection with its portable cooler and insulated beverageware business. Complainant has registered the YETI mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (e.g., Reg. No. 3,203,869, registered Jan. 30, 2007), which demonstrates rights in the mark. Respondent’s <yeticoolers.info> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s mark as it incorporates the YETI mark in its entirety, only adding the descriptive term “coolers” and the generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) “.info.”
Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <yeticoolers.info> domain name. Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name. Respondent is not making a bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the <yeticoolers.info> domain name. The domain name resolves to a generic parking/inactive website.
Respondent has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith. Respondent’s nominal use of the <yeticoolers.info> domain name serves as bad faith. Complainant’s trademark registrations for the YETI mark existed well before the registration of the disputed domain name. Respondent had at least constructive knowledge of Complainant's rights in the mark.
B. Respondent
Respondent failed to submit a formal Response in this proceeding.
Complainant, YETI Coolers, LLC, uses the YETI mark in connection with its portable cooler and insulated beverageware business. Complainant has rights in the YETI mark through registration with the USPTO (e.g., Reg. No. 3,203,869, registered Jan. 30, 2007). Respondent’s <yeticoolers.info> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s mark.
Respondent, Hanna Stafford, registered the <yeticoolers.info> domain name on April 1, 2016. Respondent has consented to the transfer of the <yeticoolers.info> domain name.
Preliminary Issue – Consent to Transfer
The Forum was copied on documentation submitted from Respondent to Complainant, which is identified in this proceeding as “Correspondence - Respondent.” In this document, Respondent consented to the transfer of the <yeticoolers.info> domain name stating, “You can have the name, I don't want anything to do with this.”
As a result, the Panel will forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order an immediate transfer of the <yeticoolers.info> domain name. See Boehringer Ingelheim Int’l GmbH v. Modern Ltd. – Cayman Web Dev., FA 133625 (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 (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.”).
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <yeticoolers.info> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
The Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.), Panelist
Dated: July 20, 2016
Click Here to return to the main Domain Decisions Page.
Click Here to return to our Home Page