The Complainant and the Registrant are competitors in the chicken/poultry industry. There are several factual disputes in evidence, including whether there was an agreement concerning the Registrant’s use of the Sunrise Hatchery name/mark in Alberta. Additionally, the Registrant argued that it was previously represented by Complainant’s counsel, and received invoices in the Sunrise Hatchery business name.
The Panel refused to find that the Domain Name was registered in bad faith, or that the Registrant had no legitimate interest in the Domain Name. The evidence in the record established that the Registrant had used the Domain Name and the business name Sunrise Hatcheries Inc. before the Complainant registered its trademark in Canada. Additionally, the Panel rejected the Complainant’s argument that there could be confusion in the marketplace through use of the Domain Name.
The Panel refused to award costs to the Registrant based on the non-disclosure of certain information relating to the dispute between the parties in the initial Complaint.
You can read the decision here.
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