WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION

Credit Karma, Inc. v. Domain Administrator, PrivacyGuardian / Suleyman Nazligul

Case No. D2017-0743

1. The Parties

The Complainant is Credit Karma, Inc. of San Francisco, California, United States of America (“United States” or “U.S.”), represented by Reed Smith LLP, United States.

The Respondent is Domain Administrator, PrivacyGuardian of Phoenix, Arizona, United States / Suleyman Nazligul of Ankara, Turkey.

2. The Domain Name and Registrar

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

3. Procedural History

The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on April 12, 2017. On April 12, 2017, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On April 13, 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 April 24, 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 April 28, 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 May 3, 2017. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was May 23, 2017. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on May 24, 2017.

The Center appointed Torsten Bettinger as the sole panelist in this matter on May 29, 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.

By Panel Order of June 13, 2017 the Panel requested the Complainant to submit evidence of use of the CREDIT KARMA mark on February 1, 2008 or at any other time prior to the Respondent’s registration of the disputed domain name on June 18, 2008. The Complainant replied to the Panel Order on June 15, 2017. The Respondent did not submit a response to the Complainant’s submission.

4. Factual Background

The Complainant is an American multinational personal finance company headquartered in San Francisco, United States.

The Complainant is the owner of trademark registrations for the mark CREDIT KARMA (U.S. Reg. No. 4,014,356 filed November 20, 2009 and registered August 23, 2011 in class 35) as well as a design markfor a stylized CREDIT KARMA logo with a spiral between the words “Credit” and “Karma” (U.S. Reg. No. 5,057,486 filed September 10, 2015 and registered October 11, 2016 in classes 9, 35, 36, 38, 41, 45) (individually and collectively the “Complainant’s Mark”). The Complainant submitted evidence to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) in 2009 that demonstrates use of the CREDIT KARMA and CREDIT KARMA (Design) marks as early as February 1, 2008.

Additionally, the Complainant owns more than 350 domain names that incorporate the Complainant’s mark CREDIT KARMA, including the domain name <creditkarma.com> (registered on August 30, 2005) along with a corresponding website, that are used by the Complainant to market a wide range of financial services under its CREDIT KARMA brand.

The Respondent registered the disputed domain name <creditkarna.com> on June 8, 2008.

The disputed domain name directs visitors to a search machine results page for the term “credit karma” which contains paid advertisements, links to the Complainant’s website, and commercial websites unrelated to the Complainant.

5. Parties’ Contentions

A. Complainant

The Complainant submits that since 2007 it has been the provider of, and has continuously used the Complainant’s Mark in connection with a free credit and financial management platform that also provides consumers with access to educational content and reviews for a wide range of financial products, including automobile insurance, credit cards, savings and checking accounts, home equity and personal loans.

The Complainant states that it has more than 500 employees, and more than 60 million members in the U.S. and Canada. The Complainant states that it has developed a global reputation as a leading personal finance company and has received a total of USD 368.5 million in equity funding from investors. The Complainant states that the press last reported its valuation at USD 3.5 billion.

The Complainant alleges that the Complainant’s CREDIT KARMA mark is famous and enjoys a wide-reaching reputation in connection with high-quality personal finance products and services and that Complaint has expended significant time, money and resources to promote its products and services using the CREDIT KARMA marks on television and in radio commercials, social media, billboards, print and digital advertisements, Internet websites, mobile applications and other media outlets.

The Complainant further alleges that it has developed significant goodwill in the Complainant’s Mark and has grown the Complainant’s Mark into one of the most recognized and well-known brands in the personal finance industry, realizing USD 350 million in operating revenue.

With regard to the confusing similarity between the trademark and the domain name, the Complainant argues that the disputed domain name is a common and purposeful misspelling of the Complainant’s CREDIT KARMA mark and visually and phonetically similar to its trademark CREDIT KARMA, as the only difference between the Complainant’s trademark and the disputed domain name is the substitution of the letter “n” for the letter “m” in the word “karma”.

With regard to the Respondent having no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name, the Complainant submitted that (1) it has never licensed nor otherwise permitted the Respondent to use the CREDIT KARMA mark or use a domain name that incorporates or is similar to the CREDIT KARMA Mark, and (2) the use of the disputed domain name for the purpose of redirecting Internet users to a search machine results page with links to commercial websites unrelated to the Complainant, the Respondent is not making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name.

With regard to the disputed domain name having been registered and being used in bad faith, the Complainant argues that the Complainant’s intensive use of the trademark CREDIT KARMA prior to the registration of the disputed domain name indicates that the Respondent has been aware of the Complainant’s rights at the time of registration of the domain name.

The Complainant further argues that by registering and using a domain name that incorporates a misspelling of the Complainant’s CREDIT KARMA marks for the purpose of redirecting Internet users to a search machine results page with links to commercial websites unrelated to the Complainant and presumably with the intent to earn a commission or pay-per-click referral fee, the Respondent has intentionally attempted to attract Internet users to an online location by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant’s CREDIT KARMA trademark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement of the website available under the disputed domain name.

B. Respondent

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

6. Discussion and Findings

A. Identical or Confusingly Similar

The disputed domain name <credfitkarna.com>is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s CREDIT KARMA trademark.

It is well established that the test of identity or confusing similarity under the Policy is confined to a comparison of the disputed domain name and the trademark alone, independent of the products for which the domain name is used or other marketing and use factors usually considered in trademark infringement cases. (See Arthur Guinness Son & Co. (Dublin) Limited v. Dejan Macesic, WIPO Case No. D2000-1698 (<guiness.com>); Ansell Healthcare Products Inc. v. Australian Therapeutics Supplies Pty, Ltd., WIPO Case No. D2001-0110 (<ansellcondoms.com>); Dixons Group Plc v. Mr. Abu Abdullaah, WIPO Case No. D2001-0843 (<dixons-online.net>); AT&T Corp. v. Amjad Kausar, WIPO Case No. D2003-0327 (<attinternet.com>); British American Tobacco (Brands), Inc. v. NABR, WIPO Case No. D2001-1480 (<kool.com>).

In this case, the disputed domain name is visually and phonetically similar to the Complainant’s CREDIT KARMA mark. In fact, the only difference between the disputed domain name and the Complainant’s registered CREDIT KARMA trademark is the substitution of the letter “n” for the letter “m” in the word “karma.

This difference is insufficient to distinguish the domain name from the CREDIT KARMA mark (See Telfonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Ericsson) v. Eight Business Names, D2010-1485 (<ercisson.com>)).

Furthermore, it has been long established under the UDRP case law that the specific Top-Level Domain (“TLD”) designation such as <.com>, <.net> <.org> is not to be taken into account when assessing the issue of identity and confusing similarity, except in certain cases where the applicable TLD may itself form part of the relevant trademark (see WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Third Edition (“WIPO Overview 3.0”), paragraph 1.11).

For the foregoing reasons the Panel concludes that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s trademark CREDIT KARMA in which the Complainant has exclusive rights.

B. Rights or Legitimate Interests

A respondent may establish its rights or legitimate interests in a domain name, among other circumstances, by showing any of the following elements:

“(i) before any notice to you [respondent] of the dispute, your use of, or demonstrable preparations to use, the domain name or a name corresponding to the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services; or

“(ii) you [respondent] (as an individual, business, or other organization) have been commonly known by the domain name, even if you have acquired no trademark or service mark rights; or

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

Because the Respondent did not file a Response, there is no evidence showing that the Respondent is a licensee of, or otherwise affiliated with the Complainant, and has been authorized by the Complainant to use its CREDIT KARMA trademark.

There is also no evidence that the Respondent has been commonly known by the domain name, or has made a bona fide use of the disputed domain name, or that it has, for any other reason, rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.

The evidence provided by the Complainant demonstrates that the purpose of the disputed domain name is to redirect visitors to a search machine results page with links to the Complainant’s website as well as to commercial websites unrelated to the Complainant and to websites of competitors of the Complainant.

It is well-established that the use of a domain name that consists of a minor misspelling of a trademark for the purpose of redirecting Internet users to commercial websites unrelated to the trademark holder are characteristic of “typosquatting” and does not confer rights or legitimate interests arising from a “bona fide offering of goods or services (see WIPO Jurisprudential Overview 3.0, paragraph 2.9).

Accordingly, the Panel finds that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.

C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith

For the purposes of determining if there was bad faith registration and use, the Panel considers the circumstances of the registration and use of the domain name as set out in paragraph 4(b) of the Policy, noting that it does not impose any limitation on how the registration and use of a domain name in bad faith is evidenced.

The Complainant’s trademark registration for the word mark CREDIT KARMA demonstrates use in connection with financial services in class 35 as early as February 1, 2008. Based on the record in this proceeding the Complainant extensively used the CREDIT KARMA and CREDIT KARMA (& design) marks from February 1, 2008 through June 2008 on the <creditkarma.com> website, and announced the launch of the <creditkarma.com> website on social media as early as March 8, 2008. As the disputed domain name consists of a common and purposeful misspelling of the Complainant’s CREDIT KARMA marks, the Panel concludes that on the balance of probabilities the Respondent was aware of the Complainant’s trademark CREDIT KARMA at the time of registration of the disputed domain name.

This and the fact that the disputed domain name redirects Internet users to a search machine results page with links commercial websites unrelated to the Complainant demonstrate that the purpose of the registration of the disputed domain name is to collect click-through revenue from advertising links.

This is sufficient to satisfy the Panel that by using the disputed domain name, the Respondent has intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to its websites, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant’s CREDIT KARMA mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of these websites as prohibited by paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy.

The consensus view of previous UDRP panels is that a domain name registrant is normally deemed responsible for content appearing on a website at its domain name, even if such registrant may not be exercising direct control over such content – for example, in the case of advertising links appearing on an “automatically” generated basis (see WIPO Overview 3.0, paragraph 2.9).

The Respondent’s use of the disputed domain name with the intention to attract Internet users for commercial gain is established by the fact that the disputed domain name diverts Internet users to a search machine results page with links to commercial websites unrelated to the Complainant or to websites of competitors of the Complainant (see WIPO Overview 3.0, paragraph 2.9).

The likelihood of confusion as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement is established by the fact that the disputed domain name is a common misspelling of the Complainant’s CREDIT KARMA trademark and the Complainant’s own domain name <creditkarma.com>.

On the basis of the evidence put forward by the Complainant, the Panel is therefore satisfied that the Respondent has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith, in accordance with paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy.

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

Torsten Bettinger
Sole Panelist
Date: June 21, 2017