The Complainant is La Poste S.A. of Paris, France, represented by Nameshield, France.
The Respondent is PrivacyDotLink Customer 2599307 of Cayman Islands, Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland / Junjie Lin of Laiwu, China. 2. The Domain Name and Registrar
The disputed domain name is registered with Uniregistrar Corp (the “Registrar”). 3. Procedural History
The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on February 16, 2017. On February 16, 2017, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On February 16, 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 February 17, 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 February 20, 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 February 22, 2017. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was March 14, 2017. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on March 16, 2017.
The Center appointed Marilena Comanescu as the sole panelist in this matter on March 24, 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. 4. Factual Background
The Complainant in this proceeding is La Poste, the mail service of France, founded in 1576.
Colissimo is the Complainant’s parcel delivery service to private people. More than one million packages are processed per day to over 200 destinations worldwide.
The Complainant is inter alia the owner of the European Union Trademark No. 1155357 for the word mark COLISSIMO filed on April 28, 1999 and registered on July 4, 2000 covering goods and services in classes 9, 16 and 39.
The Complainant holds several domain names containing the term “colissimo”, including: , , and .
Prior to commencing these proceedings, the Complainant sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Respondent asking to justify its choice in the disputed domain name but the letter remained unanswered.
The disputed domain name was registered on November 25, 2016. At the time of filing the Complaint, the website corresponding to the disputed domain name resolves to a Registrar parking page. 5. Parties’ Contentions A. Complainant
Complainant asserts that the disputed domain name is identical to its distinctive trademark COLISSIMO, that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name and that the disputed domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. B. Respondent
The Respondent did not reply to the Complainant’s contentions. 6. Discussion and Findings
In view of the Respondent’s default, the discussion and findings will be based upon the contentions in the Complaint and any reasonable position that can be attributable to the Respondent. Under paragraph 4(a) of the Policy, a complainant can only succeed in an administrative proceeding under the Policy if the following circumstances are met:
(i) the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which complainant has rights; and
(ii) the respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in 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 Complainant holds trademark registrations for the COLISSIMO mark. The disputed domain name incorporates the Complainant’s trademark in its entirety and without any other addition.
It is well established in previous decisions under the UDRP that generic Top-Level Domains (“gTLDs”), e.g., “.xyz”, “.com”, “.net” or “.org”, are typically irrelevant to the consideration of confusing similarity between a trademark and a domain name.
Given the above, the Panel finds that the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to the Complainant’s trademark COLISSIMO, pursuant to the Policy, paragraph 4(a)(i). B. Rights or Legitimate Interests
The Complainant asserts that the Respondent is not its affiliate nor has received any authorization or other right to use or register its trademark, that the Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name and that the Respondent has not used the disputed domain name in connection with a legitimate noncommercial fair use or a bona fide offering of goods and services.
Under the Policy, “a complainant is required to make out a prima facie case that the respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests. Once such prima facie case is made, the burden of production shifts to the respondent to come forward with appropriate allegations or evidence demonstrating rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. If the respondent fails to come forward with such appropriate allegations or evidence, a complainant is generally deemed to have satisfied paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the UDRP”. See paragraph 2.1 of theWIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Second Edition (“WIPO Overview 2.0”).
There is no evidence before the Panel to support the contrary, and therefore the Panel finds that the Complainant has established a prima facie case that the Respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. The Respondent has not replied to the Complainant’s contentions, alleging any rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.
Consequently, the Panel finds that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name, pursuant to the Policy, paragraph 4(a)(ii). C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith
The Complainant holds trademark rights for COLISSIMO since at least 1999. Further, the Complainant’s trademark COLISSIMO is renowned in the field of mail services, in particular it is an “express parcel service run by the French Post Office”, see La Poste Société anonyme v. Alex Tembel,WIPO Case No. D2015-1061.
The disputed domain name was created in 2016 and incorporates the COLISSIMO trademark completely.
For the above, the Panel finds that the disputed domain name was registered in bad faith, with full knowledge of and targeting the Complainant’s trademark.
At the time of filing of the Complaint, the disputed domain name resolved to a Registrar parking page. As it is well established by the long line of cases from Telstra Corporation Limited v. Nuclear Marshmallows,WIPO Case No. D2000-0003, the requirement of the Policy of a domain name “being used in bad faith” is not limited to positive actions.
The Respondent registered the disputed domain name using a privacy shield and did not respond to the Complaint or to Complainant’s cease-and-desist letter sent before commencing these proceedings. Given the other circumstances of the case, such behavior may be considered as further evidence of bad faith in registering and using the disputed domain name.
For the above reasons, the Panel finds that the Respondent registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith, pursuant to the Policy, paragraph 4(a)(iii). 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 be transferred to the Complainant.
Marilena Comanescu
Sole Panelist
Date: March 30, 2017
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