The Complainant is Orkin Expansion, Inc., United States of America (the “United States”), represented by Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, United States.
The Respondent is Adel Ibrahim, Egypt. 2. The Domain Name and Registrar
The disputed domain name The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on March 22, 2021. On March 22, 2021, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the Domain Name. On March 23, 2021, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response disclosing registrant and contact information for the Domain Name which differed from the named Respondent and contact information in the Complaint. The Center sent an email communication to the Complainant on March 29, 2021 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 March 29, 2021. The Center verified that the Complaint together with 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 March 30, 2021. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was April 19, 2021. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on April 21, 2021. The Center appointed Ian Lowe as the sole panelist in this matter on April 28, 2021. 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 company based in the United States that has for over 90 years provided pest control services under the ORKIN mark. It is the proprietor of numerous registered trademarks in respect of the mark ORKIN across the world including United States trademark number 568,404 ORKIN registered on December 23, 1952, Egypt trademark number 236,943 device mark ORKIN registered on August 21, 2011, and Egypt trademark number 374,212 comprising the word ORKIN in Arabic script and device registered on February 4, 2020. The Domain Name was registered on May 5, 2017. It currently resolves to a web page stating “Account Suspended”. At the time of preparation of the Complaint, it resolved to a website promoting pest control services in both Arabic script and the English language and displaying the Complainant’s trademark ORKIN in Arabic script. 5. Parties’ Contentions A. Complainant The Complainant contends that the Domain Name is confusingly similar to its ORKIN trademark, that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name, and that the Respondent registered and is using the Domain Name in bad faith within the meaning of paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy. B. Respondent The Respondent did not reply to the Complainant’s contentions. 6. Discussion and Findings For this Complaint to succeed in relation to the Domain Name the Complainant must prove that: (i) the 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 Domain Name; and (iii) the Domain Name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. A. Identical or Confusingly Similar The Complainant has uncontested rights in the ORKIN trademark, both by virtue of its trademark registrations and as a result of the goodwill and reputation acquired through its use of the mark over very many years. Ignoring the generic Top-Level Domain (“gTLD”) “.com”, the Domain Name comprises the entirety of the ORKIN trademark together with the letters “eg”, which is the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) country code for Egypt. In the view of the Panel, the addition of these letters does not prevent a finding of confusing similarity between the Complainant’s mark and the Domain Name. Accordingly, the Panel finds that the Domain Name is confusingly similar to a trademark in which the Complainant has rights. B. Rights or Legitimate Interests The Complainant has made out a strong prima facie case that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name. The Respondent has used the Domain Name not in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services, but for a website incorporating the Complainant’s trademark in Arabic script and promoting the identical services to those provided by the Complainant. The Complainant has not authorised the Respondent to use its trademark in a domain name or in connection with its purported services. The Respondent has chosen not to respond to the Complaint or to take any steps to counter the prima facie case established by the Complainant. The Panel cannot conceive of any legitimate reason for the Respondent to use the Domain Name. Since the Domain Name comprises the entirety of the Complainant’s trademark with the addition simply of a geographic indicator, the Panel also finds that the Domain Name falsely carries a significant risk of implied affiliation with the Complainant (section 2.5.1 of WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Third Edition (“WIPO Overview 3.0”)). In the circumstances, the Panel finds that the Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name. C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith In the view of the Panel, given the nature of the Domain Name as indicated above, the Panel is no doubt that the Respondent had the Complainant and its rights in the ORKIN mark in mind when it registered the Domain Name. The Panel considers that the registration of such a domain name and the use of the Domain Name for a website promoting pest control services as provided by the Complainant, no doubt with a view to commercial gain, amounts to paradigm bad faith registration and use for the purposes of paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy. Accordingly, the Panel finds that the Domain Name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. 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 Domain Name Ian Lowe
Sole Panelist
Date: May 7, 2021
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