Tuesday, May 12, 2015

#282 - citizensofhumanity.ca - TRANSFER GRANTED



The Domain Name, citizensofhumanity.ca, was registered on June 17, 2011. The Complainant is the owner of the very popular brand CITIZENS OF HUMANITY, and its trademark registered in Canada in March 2014 (although it was applied for in 2005). The Registrant likely doesn't own a pair of the Complainant's comfortable jeans, and therefore did not respond.

The Panel found that, even though the trademark was not registered until 2014, since the Complainant used the Mark worldwide including in Canada since as early as May 2003 in connection with clothing, the Complainant has had rights in the Mark within the meaning of policy well before it was registered by the Registrant. Furthermore, The Registrant offered to transfer the domain to the Complainant for $6000.00 and was using it to direct visitors to third party websites that sell the Complainant’s jeans, which evidenced bad faith under the policy.

You can read the decision here.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

#281 - fluorgroup.ca - TRANSFER GRANTED


The Complainant, Fluor Corporation is a publicly traded construction company employing 40,000 people around the world. The Registrant is Flour Curling, who did not respond to the complaint. The Complainant first registered its mark FLUOR in Canada in 1973 and fluorgroup.ca was first registered on January 27, 2015.


The Panel Found that the addition of the generic term “group” did nothing to distinguish the Domain Name from the Complainant's registered trade-mark. The Panel found that the Registrant had no legitimate interest in the Domain Name - the use by the Registrant in putting the ® symbol beside the FLUOR trademark in its fake job application shows the Registrant likely knew of the trademark.  Thirdly, the Registrant used the Domain Name "to impersonate Complainant, sending emails to potential job seekers from a "FLUOR CORPORATION <hrd@fluorgroup.ca" email using the name of the actual HR Manager of the Complainant. The panel found that holding itself out as the Complaint was a clear example of bad faith and ordered the transfer.

You can read the decision here.

Friday, May 1, 2015

#280 - keencanada.ca - TRANSFER GRANTED

The Complainant, Keen, Inc. and Keen Canada Outdoor, ULC, uses the trade mark in association with footwear, bags and clothing, starting in 2005.  When the Complainant owned the Domain Name, it used to direct customers to the Complainant’s online sales page and was a very valuable part of its marketing strategy.  The Complainant inadvertently failed to renew the Domain Name in 2014.  The Registrant is using the Domain Name to host reviews of Complainant’s products, and redirect users to amazon.com (and receives a fee when each user is redirected). The Panel found that the Registrant’s use of the Domain Name is likely to confuse consumers into thinking the Complainant is affiliated with the site.

You can read the full decision here.