Monday, July 14, 2014

#263 - victoriassecret.ca - TRANSFER GRANTED

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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