YETI Coolers, LLC v. Jerry Stonecipher
Claim Number: FA1606001679039
Complainant is YETI Coolers, LLC (“Complainant”), represented by Katherine Laatsch Fink of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., Illinois, USA. Respondent is Jerry Stonecipher (“Respondent”), Ohio, USA.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAMES
The domain names at issue are <wrapmyyeti.com> and <wrapyouryeti.com>, registered with 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 Panelist in this proceeding.
Bruce E. Meyerson as Panelist.
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the Forum electronically on June 10, 2016; the Forum received payment on June 10, 2016.
On June 13, 2016, GoDaddy.com, LLC confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <wrapmyyeti.com> and <wrapyouryeti.com> domain names are registered with GoDaddy.com, LLC and that Respondent is the current registrant of the names. GoDaddy.com, LLC has verified that Respondent is bound by the GoDaddy.com, 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 June 13, 2016, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of July 5, 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@wrapmyyeti.com and postmaster@wrapyouryeti.com. Also on June 13, 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 7, 2016, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a single-member Panel, the Forum appointed Bruce E. Meyerson 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
1. Complainant sells portable coolers, insulated beverage containers, and other products under the YETI mark. Complainant holds numerous registrations for the mark in the United States (e.g., USPTO Reg. No. 3,203,869, registered Jan. 30, 2007) and other jurisdictions; Complainant also claims common law rights in the mark.
2. Complainant offers customized products and customization services to its customers under the YETI Mark. The domain names correspond to Complainant's registered mark YETI, prefaced by the descriptive and/or generic terms "wrap" and either “your” or "my," and adding the ".com" top-level domain.
3. Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <wrapmyyeti.com> and <wrapyouryeti.com> domain names. Respondent is not commonly known by the domain names.
4. Respondent is neither making a bona fide offering of goods or services nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the <wrapmyyeti.com> and <wrapyouryeti.com> domain names. Rather, the domain names both resolve to websites containing hyperlinks that redirect to the products of Complainant’s competitors.
5. Respondent’s registration and use of the <wrapmyyeti.com> and <wrapyouryeti.com> domain names serves as a disruption of Complainant’s legitimate business purposes pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii) because of the inclusion of competing hyperlinks.
6. Respondent has attempted to attract Internet users to its site for commercial gain by creating confusion as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of the websites according to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv). Because Complainant’s trademark registrations for the YETI mark existed well before the registrations of the disputed domain names, Respondent had actual or at least constructive knowledge of Complainant's rights in the mark.
B. Respondent
1. Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
Respondent has consented to transfer the domain names <wrapmyyeti.com> and <wrapyouryeti.com> to Complainant.
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(f), 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 (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.”).
The Respondent has consented to transfer the <wrapmyyeti.com> and <wrapyouryeti.com> domain names to the Complainant.
It is Ordered that the <wrapmyyeti.com> and <wrapyouryeti.com> domain names be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
Bruce E. Meyerson Panelist
Dated: July 11, 2016
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