#242 - arpe.ca - TRANSFER GRANTED

The Complainant is Electronic Products Recycling Association, a non-profit corporation. The Registrant is Jean-Francois Rivard, an individual. The disputed domain name is arpe.ca.

The Panel found that the Complainant has rights in the unregistered mark based on a press release submitted by the Complainant dated July 19, 2012, which showed use of the ARPE & Design mark and the trade name ARPE-Quebec.

The Panel found that the Registrant acted in bad faith and had registered the Domain Name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of the Complainant. The disputed Domain Name resolved to a web site containing accusations against the Complainant and links to a pornographic website.

However, the Panel rejected the Complainant’s argument that the Complainant was a "competitor" of the Registrant in the sense that they were “competing for online traffic.” The Panel found that such an interpretation would render redundant the requirement that the Complainant be a competitor of the Registrant since all web sites compete for traffic.

Nevertheless, the Panel found that the Complainant met its initial burden of providing some evidence that the Registrant had no legitimate interest in the Domain Name and since the Registrant had not filed a reply to the Complaint, the Panel was unable to find that the Registrant had a legitimate interest in the domain and ordered the transfer.

You can read the decision here.