Friday, April 27, 2012

CDRP SUMMARY #184 - hmvcanada.ca (transfer granted)


The Complainants established their case and the panelist therefore directed the transfer of hmvcanada.ca to the Complainants. 

The registrant (Michael Mateescu) did not respond to the Complaint. HMV (IP) Limited and HMV Canada Inc. are well known throughout the world for their association with music and associated goods and retail services (including DVD’s, headphones and books).  The HMV related trade-marks were registered as early as 1989. The Registrant registered the Domain Name (hmvcanada.ca) in September, 2011. The Registrant responded to Complainants’ cease and desist letter by offering to “modify” his website rather than transfer the disputed Domain Name to its rightful owners. The section 3.5 (c) analysis will assist rights-holders given the Panelist’s acceptance of famous marks and the failure of registrants to provide any rational explanations for the registration of Domain Names containing reproductions of these marks.

Note: the section 3.5(d)/4.1(c) regarding disclaimers is also noteworthy– a disclaimer on a website cannot legitimize an illegitimate domain name registration.

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