WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION

Bankia SA v. Whois Privacy, Private by Design, LLC / Gertrude Van Laagwater

Case No. D2020-2460

1. The Parties

The Complainant is Bankia SA, Spain, represented by González-Bueno SLP, Spain.

The Respondent is Whois Privacy, Private by Design, LLC, United States of America / Gertrude Van Laagwater, Netherlands.

2. The Domain Name and Registrar

The disputed domain name <bienvenidoabankia.com> is registered with Porkbun LLC (the “Registrar”).

3. Procedural History

The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on September 25, 2020. On September 25, 2020, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On September 25, 2020, 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 October 12, 2020 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 amendment to the Complaint on October 12, 2020.

The Center verified that the Complaint together with the amendment to the 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 October 15, 2020. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was November 4, 2020. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on November 16, 2020.

The Center appointed Wilson Pinheiro Jabur as the sole panelist in this matter on November 20, 2020. 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.

4. Factual Background

The Complainant is a banking institution based in Spain. It is the owner, amongst others, of the domain names <bienvenidoabankia.es> and <bankia.es> respectively registered on November 16, 2018 and November 10, 2005, as well as of the following, amongst others, trademark registrations (Annexes 3-5 to the Complaint):

- European Union Trade Mark registration No. 010125219 for the word mark BANKIA, registered on October 9, 2014, in International classes 9, 16, 35, 38, 41, and 45;

- European Union Trade Mark registration No. 010125284 for the word and device mark BANKIA, registered on October 12, 2016, in International classes 9, 16, 35, 36, 38, 41, and 45; and,

- European Union Trade Mark registration No. 014789812 for the word and device mark BANKIA, registered on March 29, 2016, in International class 36.

The disputed domain name <bienvenidoabankia.com> was registered on July 6, 2020 and presently redirects Internet users to a webpage offering loans.

5. Parties’ Contentions

A. Complainant

The Complainant asserts to be a well-known Spanish banking corporation, having been included as one of the world’s biggest banks according to the publication “The Banker” in 2014.

Under the Complainant’s view, the disputed domain name reproduces the Complainant’s well-known trademark with the terms “bienvenido a” (“welcome to” in a free translation from the Spanish language), which are also used by the Complainant in its <bienvenidoabankia.es> domain name, thus creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant’s trademark and domain names.

Moreover, the Complainant contends that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name given that:

(i) a search conducted by the Complainant disclosed no applications or registrations for BIENVENIDOABANKIA trademark under the Respondent’s name;

(ii) the Respondent has not been commonly known by the disputed domain name;

(iii) the Respondent is not making a legitimate or fair use of the disputed domain name since it is intentionally using the disputed domain name to redirect Internet users to a webpage offering loans, unlawfully diverting the Complainant’s consumers.

As to the registration of the disputed domain name in bad faith the Complainant argues that the Respondent had constructive knowledge of the Complainant due to its well-known status and choice of disputed domain name that clearly reproduces the Complainant’s previous domain name under the “.es” Top-Level Domain. Furthermore, the use being made of the disputed domain name to redirect Internet users to a webpage offering financial services characterizes an intentional attempt to attract for commercial gain Internet users by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant’s trademark.

B. Respondent

The Respondent did not reply to the Complainant’s contentions.

6. Discussion and Findings

Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy sets forth the following three requirements, which have to be met for this Panel to order the transfer of the disputed domain name to the Complainant:

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

(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.

The Complainant must prove in this administrative proceeding that each of the aforementioned three elements is present in order to obtain the transfer of the disputed domain name.

In accordance with paragraph 14(a) of the Rules, if the Respondent does not submit a Response, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, the Panel shall decide the dispute based upon the Complaint.

A. Identical or Confusingly Similar

The Complainant has established its rights in the registered BANKIA trademark.

The Panel finds that the disputed domain name reproduces the Complainant’s mark BANKIA in its entirety and is therefore confusingly similar to it. It is well accepted that the first element functions primarily as a standing requirement and that the threshold test for confusing similarity involves a “reasoned but relatively straightforward comparison between the complainant’s trademark and the disputed domain name”. (WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Third Edition, (“WIPO Overview 3.0”), section 1.7).

The first element of the Policy has therefore been established.

B. Rights or Legitimate Interests

Paragraph 4(c) of the Policy provides a non-exclusive list of circumstances that indicate a respondent’s rights to or legitimate interests in a disputed domain name. These circumstances are:

(i) before any notice of the dispute, the respondent’s use of, or demonstrable preparations to use, the disputed domain name or a name corresponding to the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services; or

(ii) the respondent (as an individual, business, or other organization) has been commonly known by the disputed domain name, in spite of not having acquired trademark or service mark rights; or

(iii) the respondent is making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert consumers or to tarnish the trademark or service mark at issue.

The Respondent, in not responding to the Complaint, has failed to invoke any of the circumstances, which could demonstrate, pursuant to paragraph 4(c) of the Policy, any rights to or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. This entitles the Panel to draw any such inferences from such default as it considers appropriate pursuant to paragraph 14(b) of the Rules. Nevertheless, the burden of proof is still on the Complainant to make a prima facie case against the Respondent.

In that sense, and as the evidence submitted clearly indicates, the Complainant has made out a prima facie case that the Respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name, given that the Respondent has used the disputed domain name to redirect Internet users to a webpage offering loans.

Also, the lack of evidence as to whether the Respondent is commonly known by the disputed domain name or the absence of any trademarks registered by the Respondent corresponding to the disputed domain name, corroborates with the indication of the absence of rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.

Under these circumstances and absent evidence to the contrary, the Panel finds that the Respondent does not have rights or legitimate interests with respect to the disputed domain name.

The second element of the Policy has therefore been established.

C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith

The Policy indicates in paragraph 4(b) that bad faith registration and use can be found in view of:

(i) circumstances indicating that the Respondent has registered or acquired the disputed domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring it to the Complainant who is the owner of a trademark relating to the disputed domain name or to a competitor of the Complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of the Respondent’s documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the disputed domain name; or

(ii) the Respondent has registered the disputed 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) the Respondent has registered the disputed domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or

(iv) by using the disputed domain name, the Respondent has intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to the Respondent’s website or other 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 website or location.

The registration and use of the disputed domain name in bad faith can be found in the present case in view of the following circumstances:

(i) the Respondent has provided no evidence whatsoever of any actual or contemplated good faith use of the disputed domain name.

(ii) the Respondent’s use of the disputed domain name to redirect Internet users to a webpage offering loans;

(iii) the indication of what it appears to be a false address in the WhoIs data and, consequently, the Center not being able to have communications fully delivered to it;

(iv) considering the well-known status of the Complainant’s trademark, the nature of the disputed domain name (reproducing the Complainant’s trademark), and the Respondent’s intention of unduly profiting from the value in the Complainant’s trademark, suggests rather a clear indication of the Respondent’s registration and holding of the disputed domain name in bad faith, with implausibility of any good faith use to which the disputed domain name may be put.

For the reasons as those stated above, the Panel finds that the disputed domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith pursuant to paragraph 4(b)(i) of the Policy.

The third element of the Policy has therefore been established.

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, <bienvenidoabankia.com>, be transferred to the Complainant.

Wilson Pinheiro Jabur
Sole Panelist
Date: December 9, 2020