Chevron Intellectual Property LLC v. ChevInternal
Claim Number: FA1606001680745
Complainant is Chevron Intellectual Property LLC (“Complainant”), represented by Jenny T. Slocum of Dickinson Wright PLLC, District of Columbia, USA. Respondent is ChevInternal (“Respondent”), Arab Emirates.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <chevronnatoil.com>, registered with OnlineNIC, 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 22, 2016; the Forum received payment on June 22, 2016.
On June 23, 2016, OnlineNIC, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to the Forum that the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name is registered with OnlineNIC, Inc. and that Respondent is the current registrant of the name. OnlineNIC, Inc. has verified that Respondent is bound by the OnlineNIC, 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 27, 2016, the Forum served the Complaint and all Annexes, including a Written Notice of the Complaint, setting a deadline of July 18, 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@chevronnatoil.com. Also on June 27, 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 26, 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, Chevron Intellectual Property LLC, currently owns over 70 active U.S. trademark and service mark registrations with the USTPO covering the CHEVRON mark (e.g., Reg. No. 364,683, registered Feb. 14, 1939). Complainant also owns over 20 trademark registrations for CHEVRON in United Arab Emirates. Complainant has rights in the CHEVRON mark through its trademark and service mark registrations. Respondent’s <chevronnatoil.com> domain name is confusingly similar to the CHEVRON mark as it incorporates the mark in its entirety while adding descriptive elements “nat” (for “national”) and “oil,” and the gTLD “.com.”
Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain. Complainant has not authorized Respondent to use the CHEVRON mark. Respondent has passed itself off as Complainant, holding itself out to the public as Complainant with a duplicate website using Complainant’s marks. Such use is not a bona fide offering or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use.
Respondent has demonstrated bad faith as per Policy ¶¶ 4(b)(iii) and (iv) because it presumably profits from its passing off behavior. Further, Respondent had actual knowledge of Complainant’s famous CHEVRON mark when registering and using the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name.
B. Respondent
Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding.
Complainant, Chevron Intellectual Property LLC, currently owns over 70 active U.S. trademark and service mark registrations with the USTPO covering the CHEVRON mark (e.g., Reg. No. 364,683, registered Feb. 14, 1939). Complainant also owns over 20 trademark registrations for CHEVRON in United Arab Emirates. Complainant has rights in the CHEVRON mark through its trademark and service mark registrations.
Respondent’s <chevronnatoil.com> domain name is confusingly similar to the CHEVRON mark.
Respondent, ChevInternal, registered the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name on June 6, 2016.
Respondent has used the <chevronnatoil.com> domain to create a duplicate website to Chevron’s <chevron.com> website and has copied the CHEVRON marks in their entireties. However, the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name does not currently resolve to a webpage. Due to the fraudulent and infringing content contained on the resolving website for the domain name, there was a need for immediate, temporary relief. On June 20, 2016, Chevron requested a takedown of the website associated with this domain name and that takedown was granted by the registrar.
Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name.
Respondent has registered and used the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name in bad faith.
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.”).
Complainant, Chevron Intellectual Property LLC, currently owns over 70 active U.S. trademark and service mark registrations with the USTPO covering the CHEVRON mark (e.g., Reg. No. 364,683, registered Feb. 14, 1939). Complainant also owns over 20 trademark registrations for CHEVRON in United Arab Emirates. Complainant has rights in the CHEVRON mark under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i) through its trademark and service mark registrations.
Respondent’s <chevronnatoil.com> domain name is confusingly similar to the CHEVRON mark as it incorporates the mark in its entirety while adding descriptive elements “nat” (for “national”) and “oil,” and the gTLD “.com.”
Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name. Respondent is not commonly known by the domain name. Complainant has not authorized Respondent to use the CHEVRON mark under Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii). The WHOIS information lists the registrant of record as “ChevInternal.”
Respondent has not made a bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use through the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name. Respondent has used the <chevronnatoil.com> domain to create a duplicate website to Chevron’s <chevron.com> website and has copied the CHEVRON marks in their entireties. See Kmart of Mich., Inc. v. Cone, FA 655014 (Forum Apr. 25, 2006) (The panel found the respondent’s attempt to pass itself off as the complainant was not a bona fide offering of goods or services pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(i), or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii) when the respondent used the disputed domain name to present users with a website that was nearly identical to the complainant’s website).
Respondent has engaged in bad faith registration and use of the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name under Policy ¶¶ 4(b)(iii) and (iv), because it presumably profits from its passing off behavior. See Artistic Pursuit LLC v. calcuttawebdevelopers.com, FA 894477 (Forum Mar. 8, 2007) (finding that the respondent’s registration and use of the disputed domain name, which displayed a website virtually identical to the complainant’s website, constituted bad faith pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iii)); see also H-D Michigan, Inc. v. Petersons Auto., FA 135608 (Forum Jan. 8, 2003) (finding that the disputed domain name was registered and used in bad faith pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv) through the respondent’s registration and use of the infringing domain name to intentionally attempt to attract Internet users to its fraudulent website by using the complainant’s famous marks and likeness).
Respondent had actual notice of Complainant's rights in the CHEVRON mark prior to registration of the domain name. Therefore, Respondent registered and used the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name in bad faith under Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii). See Yahoo! Inc. v. Butler, FA 744444 (Forum Aug. 17, 2006) (finding bad faith where the respondent was "well-aware of the complainant's YAHOO! mark at the time of registration").
Complainant having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be GRANTED.
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <chevronnatoil.com> domain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant.
The Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.), Panelist
Dated: August 6, 2016
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