URS DEFAULT DETERMINATION
Wikimedia Foundation v. Zhou Da Sen
Claim Number: FA1706001736639
DOMAIN NAME
<wikipedia.online>
PARTIES
Complainant: Wikimedia Foundation of San Francisco, CA, United States of America | |
Respondent: Zhou Da Sen Zhou Da Sen of Shi Xia Qu, II, CN | |
REGISTRIES and REGISTRARS
Registries: DotOnline Inc. | |
Registrars: CHENGDU WEST DIMENSION DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. |
EXAMINER
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 Examiner in this proceeding. | |
Saravanan Dhandapani, as Examiner |
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Complainant Submitted: June 20, 2017 | |
Commencement: June 21, 2017 | |
Default Date: July 7, 2017 | |
Having reviewed the communications records, the Examiner finds that the Forum has discharged its responsibility under URS Procedure Paragraphs 3 and 4 and Rule 4 of the Rules for the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (the "Rules"). |
RELIEF SOUGHT
Complainant requests that the domain name be suspended for the life of the registration. |
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Clear and convincing evidence. |
FINDINGS and DISCUSSION
Procedural Findings: | ||
Multiple Complainants: Multiple Complainants: No multiple Complainants are involved in this proceeding. This Complaint and findings relate to the domain name <wikipedia.online>. No domain name is dismissed from this Complaint. | ||
Multiple Respondents: Multiple Respondents: No multiple Respondents are involved in this proceeding. This Complaint and findings relate to the domain name <wikipedia.online>. No domain name is dismissed from this Complaint. |
Findings of Fact: The case of the Complainant is as follows: The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (“WMF”) is a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development, and distribution of free, multilingual, educational content. WMF’s most wellknown project is Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia at www.wikipedia.org. Wikipedia offers over 40 million articles in 295 languages and has nearly 500 million unique visitors each month and is compiled, edited, and maintained by over 100,000 active contributors. WMF owns registrations for the WIKIPEDIA mark in United States and in numerous countries worldwide, including China. In addition, WMF owns the domain name www.wikipedia.org (among others), through which it disseminates content and promotes services under the WIKIPEDIA mark. WMF’s Wikipedia website is consistently ranked among the ten most popular web properties in the world. As a result of WMF’s efforts and Wikipedia’s success, the WIKIPEDIA mark is distinctive and well-known worldwide. Registrant’s <wikipedia.online> domain name (the “Domain Name”) is identical to WMF’s WIKIPEDIA mark. The Domain Name wholly incorporates the trademarked WIKIPEDIA name. Because Wikipedia is a website, the “.online” domain creates further confusion for visitors to this Domain Name. Registrant has no legitimate rights or interests in the Domain Name. Registrant is not commonly known by the Domain Name, is not a licensee or affiliate of WMF, and WMF has never authorized or consented to Registrant’s registration of the Domain Name. Moreover, Registrant is not using the Domain Name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services or any legitimate non-commercial or fair use purpose. The Domain Name is being used only to redirect to other websites for advertising purposes. Viewing the Domain Name’s source code reveals the message “This website is for sale! wikipedia.online is your first and best source for information about wikipedia.” Finally, Registrant is using the Domain Name in bad faith pursuant to URS Policy 1.2.6.3. As Registrant is using the Domain Name exclusively to run advertising, it is clear that the Registrant is using the Domain Name to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to the Registrant’s web site by using the WIKIPEDIA mark in a manner likely to cause confusion as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of Registrant’s site. The website has no other content and serves no purpose other than advertising. The Domain Name source code also suggests that the website is the “best source for information about wikipedia,” further attempting to connect the Domain Name to the Wikipedia project. Additionally, the website source code notes in two separate places that “this website is for sale,” suggesting that the Registrant does not intend to make a legitimate use of the Domain Name, but instead wants to sell it for profit. It is likely that the Registrant purchased the Domain Name in order to transfer it to WMF for a significant sum of money. Accordingly, Registrant is clearly holding the Domain Name in bad faith and in complete disregard of WMF’s exclusive rights to use its WIKIPEDIA mark. |
Even though the Respondent has defaulted, URS Procedure 1.2.6, requires Complainant to make a prima facie case, proven by clear and convincing evidence, for each of the following three elements to obtain an order that a domain name should be suspended.
[URS 1.2.6.1] The registered domain name(s) is/are identical or confusingly similar
to a word mark: Determined: Finding for Complainant The Complainant has proved by documentary evidences that they are the registered owner of trademark “WIKIPEDIA” under various classifications. As noted, the disputed domain name <wikipedia.online> composes “wikipedia” and “.online”. Thus the word “wikipedia” in disputed domain name is identical to Complainant’s registered trademark “wikipedia”. The “.online” in disputed domain name is a generic code top-level domain name (gTLD) suffix which means “powered up”, “logged on” etc., It is non-distinctive and is incapable of differentiating the disputed domain name from the Complainant’s registered trademark. Based on the fact that “wikipedia” being a registered trademark of the Complainant, the Examiner determines that URS 1.2.6.1(i) covers the domain name at issue in this Complaint. [URS 1.2.6.2] Registrant has no legitimate right or interest to the domain name. Determined: Finding for Complainant The Complainant owns trademark “wikipedia” under various classifications in various countries throughout the world. The Complainant’s adoption and first use of the registered trademark is for quite some time. In such case, the burden lies on the Respondent to prove that he/she has legitimate rights and/or interests in the disputed domain name. The Respondent is in default and has not filed any response. Although, the Complainant is not entitled to relief simply by default of the Respondent to submit a Response, the Examiner can however and does draw evidentiary inferences from the failure of the Respondent to respond. In view of the above, the Complainant has established a prima facie case of lack of rights and legitimate interest. Based on the record, the Respondent does not have rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. Hence, the Examiner determines that URS 1.2.6.2 covers the domain name at issue in this Complaint and that the Respondent has no legitimate right or interest to the domain name.
[URS 1.2.6.3] The domain name(s) was/were registered and is being used in bad faith.
Determined: Finding for Complainant It is the specific case of the Complainant that the Respondent is not affiliated with Complainant in any manner and never authorized the Respondent to register or use any domain name incorporating “wikipedia”. The Respondent has not responded in spite of the notice of complaint and notice of default under this URS determination process. It is well established that the registration and use of the disputed domain name must involve malafides where the registration and use of it was continued to be made in full knowledge of the Complainant’s prior rights in the “wikipedia” registered trademark and in circumstances where the registrant did not seek permission from the Complainant, as the owner of trademark, for such registration and use. Thus the Panel Examiner comes to an irresistible determination that (i) the disputed domain name is identical to the Complainant’s “wikipedia” trademark; (ii) the Respondent’s name does not correspond to the disputed domain name; (iii) the Respondent was aware of the Complainant and its trademark when it registered the disputed the domain name; (iv) there is no indication of any authorization to use the Complainant’s mark. Hence, it is lawful to conclude that the disputed domain name was registered in bad faith. Thus the Examiner determines that URS 1.2.6.3 (a) and (d) covers the domain name at issue in this Complaint and the domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith. FINDING OF ABUSE or MATERIAL FALSEHOOD The Examiner may find that the Complaint was brought in an abuse of this proceeding or that it contained material falsehoods. The Examiner finds as follows:
DETERMINATION
After reviewing the parties’ submissions, the Examiner determines that the Complainant
has demonstrated all three elements of the URS by a standard of clear and convincing
evidence; the Examiner hereby Orders the following domain name(s) be SUSPENDED for
the duration of the registration:
|
Saravanan Dhandapani Examiner
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