Domain name - U.S. Service mark - Confusingly similar - Bad faith registration - Offer to sell domain name to Complainant or to competitor for $200,000 - No response filed

Complainant was holder of registered service mark.  Respondent registered domain name "euroconsult.com".

Held, Name Transferred to Complainant

Respondent registration is confusingly similar.  Respondent has no legitimate interest in domain name.  Respondent has shown bad faith in that it conducts no active business under the domain name and it further offered the domain name for sale following the filing of the Complaint.  Respondent did not file a response to the Complaint.

Policies referred to

ICANN Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy as supplemented by the National Arbitration Forum's Supplemental Rules to ICANN's Uniform Domain Resolution Policy
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Perluss, Panelist: - 

The above-entitled matter came on for an administrative hearing on March 7, 2000, before the undersigned, on the Complaint of Euroconsult, Inc., hereinafter "Complainant," against Henry Hepworth Media Law & IP Law, hereinafter
"Respondent." 

Upon the written submitted record, the following DECISION is made:

PROCEDURAL FINDINGS

Domain Name: euroconsult.com

Domain Name Registrar: Network Solutions

Domain Name Registrant: Henry Hepworth Media Law & IP Law

Date of Domain Name Registration: August 21, 1995

Date Complaint Filed: February 3, 2000

Date of Commencement of Administrative Proceedings in
Accordance with Rule 2(a)[1] and Rule 4(c): February 3, 2000

Due Date for a Response: February 28, 2000

Respondent has not submitted a Response to the Complaint.  After reviewing the Complaint for administrative compliance, The National Arbitration Forum, hereinafter "The Forum," transferred the Complaint to the Respondent in compliance with
Rule 2(a), and the administrative proceeding was commenced pursuant to Rule 4(c). In compliance with Rule 4(d), The Forum immediately notified the above Registrar, ICANN and the Complainant that the administrative proceeding had commenced.

The Respondent had registered the domain name in issue with Network Solutions, the entity that is the Registrar of the domain name. By registering its domain name with Network Solutions, the Respondent agreed to resolve any dispute regarding its domain name through ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.

Respondent did not submit a Response to The Forum within twenty [20] days pursuant to Rule 5(a).

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Euroconsult, Inc. is the holder of the service mark "Euroconsult" engineering services which was registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on August 18, 1992, and was numbered l,709,534.

2. The domain name here in issue was a later registration when it was registered by Respondent with Network Solutions, and the domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant's service mark.

3. The Respondent does not have a legitimate interest in the domain name here involved. It is not making a legitimate or fair use of the domain name as hereinafter found.

4. Respondent has acted in bad faith in that it conducts no active business under the domain name. Moreover, after the Complaint herein was filed, Respondent put the domain name up for sale for a price of $200,000. As a result, customers of Complainant may well suspect the Complainant's business is for sale and/or Complainant is in need of the $200,000 sought as the price of the domain name. Moreover, the use of the domain name by the Respondent or a purchaser of the domain name will lead to the inevitable confusion of Respondent's customers and prospective customers.

5. Complainant's prayer for relief seeks that the domain name "euroconsult.com" be transferred from Respondent to Complainant.

CONCLUSIONS

The undersigned certifies that he has acted independently and has no known conflict of interest to serve as the Arbitrator in this proceeding. Having been duly selected, and being impartial, the undersigned makes the following findings and conclusions:

1. The domain name "euroconsult.com" registered by Respondent with Network Solutions on August 21, 1995, is confusingly similar to Complainant's service mark and was registered subsequent to Complainant's registration of its service mark in the United States Trademark and Patent Office.

2. The domain name is not being used by Respondent in an active business and Respondent has placed it up for sale, obviously to Complainant or to a competitor of Complainant. In so doing, Respondent has acted in bad faith.

DECISION

Based on the above findings and conclusions, and pursuant to Rule 4(i), it is decided as follows:

IT IS DIRECTED THAT THE DOMAIN NAME "euroconsult.com" REGISTERED BY RESPONDENT Henry Hepworth Media Law & IP Law BE TRANSFERRED TO COMPLAINANT EUROCONSULT, INC.
 

Dated: March 9, 2000, 
by Judge Irving H. Perluss [Retired],
Arbitrator.

[1]Any reference to "Rule" or Rules" are to the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers [ICANN's] Rules for
Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and Uniform
Domain Name Resolution Policy as supplemented by the National
Arbitration Forum's Supplemental Rules to ICANN's Uniform
Domain Resolution Policy.