Wednesday, September 19, 2012

#200 - patagonia.ca - Complaint DISMISSED

The Complainant failed to establish its case and the panelist therefore dismissed the Complaint. 

The Registrant (Netnic Corporation (on behalf of David Mullen)) responded to the Complaint. The PATAGONIA trade-mark was registered in March, 1987 and the Registrant used its mark in Canada since at least as early as 1976. Patagonia.ca was registered as a Domain Name on February 9, 2005.  The Complainant submits that it offered $250.00 in September, 2009 to acquire the Domain Name.  However, the Registrant responded and requested 11,600 Euros.  Despite the fact that Mullen “parked” his Domain Name, the Complainant could not prove Mullen had no legitimate interest in the Domain Name.  The panel found that the Registrant used the Domain Name (in good faith) in association with its premium water, which was descriptive of the place of origin of the water contained in the product (Aguas de la Patagonia Premium Artesian Still Spring Water). The Panel noted this dispute was fundamentally a trade-mark dispute and presumably ought to be challenged in the Federal Court of Canada.

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