WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION

Realm Entertainment Limited v. Atilim Kaymaz

Case No. D2017-1263

1. The Parties

The Complainant is Realm Entertainment Limited of Ta’ Xbiex, Malta, represented by Ports Group AB, Sweden.

The Respondent is Atilim Kaymaz of Istanbul, Turkey, self-represented.

2. The Domain Name and Registrar

The disputed domain name <saferbets10.com> is registered with GoDaddy.com, LLC (the “Registrar”).

3. Procedural History

The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on June 30, 2017. On June 30, 2017, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On July 3, 2017, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response disclosing registrant and contact information for the disputed domain name which differed from the named Respondent and contact information in the Complaint. The Center sent an email communication to the Complainant on July 5, 2017 providing the registrant and contact information disclosed by the Registrar, and inviting the Complainant to submit an amendment to the Complaint. The Complainant filed an amended Complaint on July 6, 2017.

The Center verified that the Complaint together with the amended Complaint satisfied the formal requirements of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy” or “UDRP”), the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Rules”), and the WIPO Supplemental Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Supplemental Rules”).

In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2 and 4, the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on July 10, 2017. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was July 30, 2017.

The Respondent sent email communications on July 12 and 13, 2017 in which it stated that it did not want the disputed domain name and that it agreed to the transfer of the disputed domain name to the Complainant. The proceeding was suspended on July 13, 2017, for settlement purposes, and reinstituted on September 11, 2017. The due date for Response was September 29, 2017. On October 2, 2017, the Center notified to the Parties that it would proceed to Panel Appointment.

The Center appointed Edoardo Fano as the sole panelist in this matter on October 9, 2017. The Panel finds that it was properly constituted. The Panel has submitted the Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence, as required by the Center to ensure compliance with the Rules, paragraph 7.

The Panel has not received any requests from the Complainant or the Respondent regarding further submissions, waivers or extensions of deadlines, and the Panel has not found it necessary to request any further information from the Parties.

The language of the proceeding is English, being the language of the Registration Agreement, as per paragraph 11(a) of the Rules.

4. Factual Background

The Complainant is Realm Entertainment Limited, a Company incorporated in Malta running from 2011 an online gambling and games website at “www.bets10.com”.

The Complainant owns the following registrations for the trademark BETS10 in the European Union:

- European Union Trade Mark registration No. 009941139 BETS10, registered on September 14, 2011;

- European Union Trade Mark registration No. 012403713 BETS10 and design, registered on May 5, 2014.

The Complainant provided evidence in support of the above.

The disputed domain name <saferbets10.com> was registered on January 11, 2017. At the time of filing the Complaint, the website at the disputed domain name was used to provide gambling and games services.

On January 31, 2017 the Complainant sent a cease-and-desist to the Respondent, without receiving any answer.

5. Parties’ Contentions

A. Complainant

The Complainant states that the disputed domain name <saferbets10.com> is confusingly similar to its trademark BETS10, as the word “safer” is not sufficient to differentiate the disputed domain name from the Complainant’s trademark.

Moreover, the Complainant asserts that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name since the Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name, nor is the Respondent making a bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name.

The Complainant submits that the Respondent has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith because, by providing the same kind of services as the Complainant, the Respondent is intentionally attempting to attract for illicit commercial gain Internet users to the website at the disputed domain name, creating confusion with the Complainant’s business.

B. Respondent

The Respondent, with the exception of a couple of email communications in which it stated not to be interested in keeping the disputed domain name, has made no reply to the Complainant’s contentions.

6. Discussion and Findings

Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy lists three elements, which the Complainant must satisfy in order to succeed:

(i) the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights;

(ii) the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name; and

(iii) the disputed domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

A. Identical or Confusingly Similar

The Panel finds that the Complainant is the owner of the trademark BETS10, and that the disputed domain name <saferbets10.com> is confusingly similar to the trademark BETS10 as the addition of the word “safer” is not sufficient to distinguish the disputed domain name from the Complainant’s trademark.

It is also well accepted that a generic Top-Level Domain (“gTLD”), in this case “.com”, may be ignored when assessing the similarity between a trademark and a domain name (see, e.g., VAT Holding AG v. Vat.com, WIPO Case No. D2000-0607).

The Panel finds that the Complainant has therefore met its burden of proving that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s trademark, pursuant to the Policy, paragraph 4(a)(i).

B. Rights or Legitimate Interests

The Respondent did not reply to the Complainant’s contentions. In its email communications, the Respondent stated that it did not want the disputed domain name and that it agreed to the transfer of the disputed domain name to the Complainant.

The Complainant in its Complaint and as set out above has established a prima facie case that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. It asserts that the Respondent is not using the disputed domain name for a legitimate noncommercial or fair use or in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services.

The prima facie case presented by the Complainant is enough to shift the burden of production to the Respondent to demonstrate that it has rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. However, the Respondent has not presented any evidence of any rights or legitimate interests it may have in the disputed domain name, and the Panel is unable to establish any such rights or legitimate interests on the basis of the evidence in front of it. In fact, the Respondent stated in its email communications that it did not want the disputed domain name, which confirms the Panel’s finding that the Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name.

The Panel therefore finds that paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the Policy has been satisfied.

C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith

Paragraph 4(b) of the Policy provides that “for the purposes of paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy, the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to be present, shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name in bad faith:

(i) circumstances indicating that [the respondent has] registered or has acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of the complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of [its] documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or

(ii) that [the respondent has] registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that [the respondent has] engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or

(iii) that [the respondent has] registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or

(iv) that by using the domain name, [the respondent has] intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to [the respondent’s] web site or other online location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant’s mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of [the respondent’s] website or location or of a product or service on [the respondent’s] web site or location.”

As regards to the registration in bad faith of the disputed domain name, the reputation of the Complainant’s trademark BETS10 in the field of online gambling and games services is clearly established and the Panel finds that the Respondent knew or must have known, when it registered the disputed domain name, that the disputed domain name <saferbets10.com> was confusingly similar to the Complainant’s trademark, especially because the content of the relevant website fully referred to online gambling and games services.

In addition, the disputed domain name was also used in bad faith since at the website to which the disputed domain name resolves, the Respondent was providing online gambling and games services, which is the same business as the Complainant.

The above suggests to the Panel that the Respondent intentionally registered and is using the disputed domain name in order to create confusion with the Complainant’s trademarks and attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to its website in accordance with paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy.

The Panel finds that the Complainant has presented evidence to satisfy its burden of proof with respect to the issue of whether the Respondent has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith.

The Panel therefore finds that paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy has been satisfied.

7. Decision

For the foregoing reasons, in accordance with paragraphs 4(i) of the Policy and 15 of the Rules, the Panel orders that the disputed domain name <saferbets10.com> be transferred to the Complainant.

Edoardo Fano
Sole Panelist
Date: October 21, 2017