Wednesday, November 28, 2012

#207 - albertafoundationandconcretelifting.ca - TRANSFER GRANTED


Following David Chamber's CDRP complaint dismissed on July 7, 2012, Alberta Foundation and Concrete Lifting Ltd. commenced this proceeding for the same two domain names. The Complainant is not the owner of any registered trade-marks and therefore must prove use of its Mark prior to August 23, 2010 (date of registration of the Domain Names). The Complainant provided supporting documents, including City of Calgary Building permits, Yellow Pages advertisements, Annual Corporation filings and Province of Alberta and Banking records. This time, the panelist determined the Mark was in use. The Registrant did not respond to the Complaint and the panelist found this business was a competitor of the Complainant, and had no legitimate interest in domain names, given they both resolved to www.concretespecialistsltd.ca

You can read the decision here

#206 - jared.ca - COMPLAINT DISMISSED


The Registrant registered the domain name on April 26, 2001. The Complainant, Sterling Jewellers Inc. has been in business since 1993 but only registered its Jared trademark in Canada in 2008. The Complainant did not satisfy its onus in proving that the Domain name was registered in bad faith. The panel was persuaded that the domain name was registered by Jared's father with the intention of having his son establish an online presence once he was old enough. This was persuasive based on the surrounding circumstances - the Domain Name had not been used since 2001, there were no attempts at selling the domain; and Jared was born just before the registration date. Wish my dad was that smart!!! (and that my name was Jared - I'm certain I would be receiving a large monetary offer to purchase my domain following this decision). 

You can read the decision here

Monday, November 26, 2012

#205 - blancofaucet.ca - TRANSFER GRANTED



The Complainant established its case and the Panelist transferred the Domain Name to the Complainant.

The Complainant, BLANCO GmbH + Co KG was recently successful in a Complaint against Abdou Al-Khoulani (blancosinks.ca). This Complaint was commenced against the same registrant for transfer of the BLANCOFAUCET.CA Domain Name.  The Panelist held that a descriptive term such as “faucet” is not enough to distinguish the Domain Name from the Complainant’s trade-mark. As a result, the domain name was held to be confusingly similar. Regarding the bad faith of the Registrant, the Panelist found that although the Registrant did not engage in a pattern of such conduct (it was not clear whether Blanco’s Complaint referenced the previously transferred domain), nor was a competitor of the Complainant, the Registrant would have been aware of the Complainant’s trade-mark at the time of registration and therefore chose the Domain Name for the purpose of commercial gain.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

#204 - blackberry10.ca - TRANSFER GRANTED


The Complainant established its case and the Panelist transferred the domain name blackberry10.ca to the Complainant.


The Panelist stated that BlackBerry is one of the most popular trade-marks in Canada and all owners of smartphones/PDA's are likely intimately familiar with the Blackberry trade-marks. The BLACKBERRY trade-mark registration was submitted by the Complainant in Canada in November 2001. It was not until December 2011 that the Registrant registered his domain name, likely in an effort to monetize the highly anticipated 'Blackberry 10' release in January 2013. The Complainant also received no responses to its two cease and desist letters from the Registrant. In terms of any legitimate interest enjoyed by the Registrant, the Arbitrator held there was none. The Registrant not only failed to debate the Complainant's position, but completely failed to provide any supporting evidence as he did not respond. Hopefully this decision is the start of Blackberry 10's success in Canada.

You can read the decision here

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

#203 - blancosinks.ca - TRANSFER GRANTED




The Complainant established its case and the Panelist transferred the domain name blancosinks.ca to the Complainant.

Blanco, the Complainant, it one of the largest producers of kitchen sinks and is represented all over the world. The Registrant registered the Domain Name on January 29, 2012 and was contacted by the Complainant on May 19, 2012, but did not respond.  The BLANCO trade-mark was used in Canada as early as 1990.  The panel held that the addition of the word ‘sinks’ after the trade-mark only strengthened the connection to the Complainant. Regarding the bad faith limb of the policy, the Panelist held that Complainant satisfied two required elements. Firstly, the domain name was registered primarily for the purpose of disrupting the Complainant’s business as the domain name contained the famous trade-mark. Secondly, the Complainant was a competitor of the Registrant because a broad interpretation of the word ‘competitor’ includes websites that compete for attention, which use results in misleading diversion.  

You can read the decision here.