Tuesday, February 23, 2021

#452 - premium2000.ca and ctpwarranty.ca - TRANSFER GRANTED

 The Complainant is a leading issuer of extended warranty service contracts on used trucks, in Canada. It has unregistered trademark rights. The Registrant was formerly employed by the Complainant as a regional sales directory and registered the Domain Names prior to his departure from the company. The Registrant demanded $5,500.00 per domain, and a $15,500.00 payment for his business. The Registrant’s response focussed on the Complainant’s lack of rights in and to its unregistered trademark rights. 

The Panel found that the Registrant registered the Domain Name in bad faith for several reasons, including: following his employment, he is in direct competition with the Complainant, no evidence was provided establishing any justification for the registrations, and the Registrant admitted that the Complainant’s US subsidiary owns rights in the Premium2000+ mark.