The Complainant established its case and the Panelists transferred the Domain
Name to the Complainant.
The Complainant, Victoria’s Secret Stores Brand Management, Inc. is the owner
of the immensely popular VICTORIA’S SECRET family of trade-marks (used in
Canada as early as 1977). In November, 2000, the Registrant
registered the Domain Name. The Registrant argued that it never
registered the Domain Name in bad faith, has been redirecting the Domain to the
Complainant’s websites for several years and that the Complainant is estopped
from bringing this proceeding since negotiations for transfer of the Domain Name
failed in 2009. Of note: The Complainant
argued that redirecting the Domain Name to a web site that wasn’t a fully
functional version of the Complainant’s website is disruptive to its
business. The Panel further found that
the Registrant did not deny knowledge of the trade-mark especially in light of
his submissions that he was attempting to “protect” the Complainant’s interests,
at his own expense. The Panel further commented
that the Complainant cannot control the use of the Domain Name in the future
which helped to establish the circumstances surrounding bad faith.
You can read the decision here.
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