WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION

Expedia Inc v. Momm Amed Ia

Case No. D2002-0157

1. The Parties

The Complainant is Expedia Inc ('Expedia'). Expedia is a Washington corporation with its principal place of business in Bellevue, Washington, United States of America. The Complainant is represented by Christensen O'Connor Johnson Kindness, 1420 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2800, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.

The Respondent is Momm Amed Ia whose address is Kwangsan-gu Myongdo-dong 13-1, Kwangju, 506-011, Korea. The Respondent has no authorised representative for this proceeding.

2. The Domain Name And Registrar

The domain name in dispute ('Domain Name') is .

The Domain Name was first registered on April 25, 2000.

The Registrar with which the Domain Name is registered is BulkR, Inc of 7 East Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, United States of America.

3. Procedural History

The Complaint was filed in electronic format on February 15, 2002 and hard copies were filed on February 19, 2002. On February 21, 2002, the Center transmitted acknowledgment of receipt of complaint. On February 25, 2002, the Center transmitted a request for register verification to BulkR, in connection with this case. On February 25, 2002, Bulkr sent via e-mail to the Center a verification response confirming that the Respondent is the registrant.

On March 5, 2002, the Center verified the Complaint satisfied the requirements of the ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the 'Policy'), the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy (the 'Rules') and the Supplemental Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution (the 'Supplemental Rules').

On March 5, 2002, the Center formally commenced this proceeding and sought to notify the Respondent that its response would be due by March 25, 2002. The Center notified the Respondent of default on March 27, 2002.

On April 24, 2002, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center notified the parties that an Administrative Panel had been appointed consisting of a single Panelist, Professor Michael Charles Pryles, who had submitted a Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence.

4. Factual Background

A. The Complainant

The Complainant is the owner of a number of registered trademarks for the mark 'expedia', first registered by its predecessor interest, Microsoft Corporation ('Microsoft'). The registrations for the above trademark were assigned by Microsoft to the Complainant by written assignment.

On or about April 25, 2000, the Domain Name, was registered by the Respondent with BulkR Inc. On September 24, 2001, the Complainant, through its lawyers sent a 'cease and desist' letter to the Respondent regarding the Domain Name.

The Complainant contends that at the time of sending the above letter the Domain Name pointed to via the URL . Priceline Inc is a direct competitor of the Complainant. The Complainant contends that it contacted Priceline Inc regarding the Domain Name and arrangements were made for the termination of the link between the Domain Name and Priceline Inc's website.

The Complainant contends, that at the time of filing this Complaint the Domain Name was linked to which is another competitor of the Complainant.

B. The Respondent

According to Network Solutions' Whois database, the Respondent in this administrative proceeding is Momm Amed Ia. The Respondent has not filed a response.

5. Parties� Contentions

Domain Name and Registered Trade Mark Confusing Similar (paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy)

The Complainant contends that the Domain Name is confusingly similar to its Registered Trade Marks in appearance, sound, connotation and commercial impression.

The Complainant is engaged in the business of travel related goods and services. The Complainant submits that a customer seeking travel-related goods and services may reasonably believe that upon entering the Domain Name the home page of the Complainant would appear .

The Complainant draws on state