Source: http://www.internet-law.ru/intlaw/udrp/2000/d2000-0834.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 06:35:50+00:00

Document:
a) Complainant initiated the proceeding by the filing of a complaint by courier mail received by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center ("WIPO") on July 20, 2000, and by e-mail received by WIPO on July 21, 2000. Payment by Complainant of the requisite filing fees accompanied the courier mailing. On July 21, 2000, WIPO transmitted a Request for Registrar Verification to the registrar, Network Solutions, Inc (with the Registrar’s Response received by WIPO on July 26, 2000). On July 21, 2000, WIPO completed its formal filing compliance requirements checklist.
b) On July 26, 2000, WIPO transmitted notification of the complaint and commencement of the proceeding to Respondent via e-mail, telefax and courier mail. WIPO’s telefax report indicates successful transmission of the notification.
Complainant advertises and sells various merchandise under the "I Love Lucy" mark on its website at http://www.cbs.com. Such advertisement uses both the words "I Love Lucy standing alone, and the combination of words and design as indicated in Complainant’s registration (id., at para. 12 and Exhibit D).
According to the registrar’s verification response to WIPO, dated July 26, 2000, "Worldwide Webs, Inc." is the listed registrant of the domain name "ILOVELUCY.COM". The Administrative Contact is "Ceccola, Vincent J". The addresses listed for the registrant and the Administrative Contact are identical. (Registrar’s Response, supra). A Network Solutions’ WHOIS database search indicates that the record of registration was created on February 27, 1997, and that the record was last updated on April 26, 2000 (Complaint, Exhibit A).
- "CBS is the owner of, inter alia, the following valid, subsisting and existing federal service mark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the I LOVE LUCY mark: United States Registration No. 1,715,262 for television programs recorded on videocassettes and videotapes, for stationery, calendars, trading cards, posters and comic books, for plates and mugs, for clothing, for dolls and board games and for television program series. A copy of said registration certificate is attached to the hard copy of this Complaint as [an Annex], and is incorporated herein by reference. CBS’s registration certificate is prima facie evidence of the validity of CBS’s trademark and its exclusive right to use this trademark in commerce.
- "CBS also has licensed, and continues to license, use of the I LOVE LUCY mark in connection with the marketing, promotion and sale of various merchandise items, including but not limited to, videocassettes, greeting cards, tins, beanie bears, calendars, mugs, t-shirts, hats, dolls and board games. To date, CBS has received significant revenues from licensing the I LOVE LUCY mark for use in connection with these goods. These goods are sold in stores throughout the world, including The CBS Store located in Los Angeles, California and New York, New York. These goods can also be purchased through CBS’s website, located at www.cbs.com. (A copy of relevant pages from the CBS.COM web site featuring I LOVE LUCY merchandise is annexed to the hard copy of this Complaint as [an Annex]).
- "On February 27, 1997, Respondent registered the domain name ILOVELUCY.COM, which is confusingly similar to the mark I LOVE LUCY. The elimination of the space between the words ‘I,’ ‘LOVE,’ and ‘LUCY,’ and the addition of the generic top-level domain (gTLD) name ‘.com’ are without legal significance. See, e.g., Sporty’s Farm v. Sportsman’s Market, 202 F.2d 489, 498 (2d Cir. 2000) (citing Brookfield Comm. Inc. v. West Coast Entertainment Group, 174 F.3d 1036 (9th Cir. 1999)).
- "Respondent’s bad faith is further confirmed because it uses the ILOVELUCY.COM web site to offer ‘for sale, lease or rent’ the ILOVELUCY.COM domain name, as well as a host of other domain names, including WashingtonWizards.com. (A printout of Respondent’s web site, dated July 18, 2000, is annexed to the hard copy of this Complaint as [an Annex]). Respondent’s offer to sell, lease or rent the domain name at issue for valuable consideration in excess of its out-of-pocket costs constitutes evidence of bad faith registration and use. See, e.g., World Wide Wrestling Federation v. Bosman, WIPO Case No. D1999-0001; CBS v. Saidi, WIPO Case No. D2000-0243.
Complainant is the holder of a trademark and service mark registration for the combination word and design mark "I Love Lucy" and has used that mark in commerce for a substantial period of time (see Factual Background, supra). Complainant’s registration of the "I Love Lucy" mark on the Principal Register at the PTO establishes a presumption of its validity in U.S. law. The Panel determines that Complainant has rights in the trademark and service mark "I Love Lucy". Based on the September 15, 1992, date of Complainant’s registration of the trademark and service mark "I Love Lucy", and without prejudice to whether Complainant may hold earlier-arising rights in the mark, the Panel determines that Complainant’s rights in the mark arose prior to Respondent’s registration, on February 27, 1997, of the disputed domain name "ilovelucy.com".
Respondent has registered the domain name "ilovelucy.com". This name is identical to Complainant’s trademark and service mark "I Love Lucy", except that (1) the domain name eliminates the space between the words "I", "Love" and "Lucy", (2) the domain name adds the generic top-level domain name ".com", (3) the domain name employs lower case letters, while the mark is generally used with initial capital letters, and (4) the domain name employs only words while the registered mark consists of a combination of words and design.
Complainant’s registered mark consists of a combination of words and design that are different from a word mark standing alone. The Panel must therefore determine whether Respondent’s "ilovelucy.com" domain name, which consists of solely of words, is confusingly similar to Complainant’s registered mark in light of the differences arising from Complainant’s combination of words and design.
In the present proceeding, the Panel determines that the words "I Love Lucy" are, standing alone, likely to make an impression on consumers and users of the Internet that will lead them to associate the domain name "ilovelucy.com" with goods and services originating with Complainant. Domain names are not at the present stage of technological implementation able to incorporate designs, so that neither Respondent nor Complainant is able to reflect Complainant’s combination mark directly in a domain name. Complainant’s mark has long been associated with a television series identified among the public by the words "I Love Lucy", without reference to a design. The absence of the design is not likely to break the association that consumers and users of the Internet would ordinarily make with Complainant’s goods and services. The Internet is the channel of commerce that would be used by either Complainant or Respondent in advertising and selling goods or services under the disputed domain name. Finally, there is a substantial likelihood that Respondent chose the "ilovelucy.com" domain name precisely because of its commercial value in identifying Complainant’s goods and services.
Based on the foregoing factors, the Panel determines that the disputed domain name, "ilovelucy.com" is confusingly similar to Complainant’s combination mark, "I Love Lucy", within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy. Complainant has therefore established the first of the three elements necessary to a finding that Respondent has engaged in abusive domain name registration.
In the instant proceeding, Respondent has sought to profit from the mere registration of Complainant’s trademark and service mark as a domain name. There is no evidence on the record of this proceeding that persuades the Panel that Respondent had a purpose for registering the disputed domain name other than for the purpose of selling it for a price in excess of its out-of-pocket costs directly related to the name. The Panel determines such registration and use to be in bad faith.
1. The heart design is that used on the traditional Valentine’s Day greeting card as opposed to that used in a medical textbook.
3. 15 USCS § 1057(b). See, e.g., Avery Dennison v. Sumpton, 189 F.3d 868 (9th Cir. 1999).

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