Source: https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2009/d2009-1510.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 14:10:56+00:00

Document:
Complainant is eDreams, Inc. of Wilmington, Delaware, United States of America, represented by Ubilibet, Spain.
Respondent is Algon Domains, Domain (c/o Rebel.com Privacy Service) of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The disputed domain name <edremas.com> is registered with Rebel.com Corp.
The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on November 6, 2009. On November 10, 2009, the Center transmitted by email to Rebel.com Corp. a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On November 11, 2009, Rebel.com Corp. transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that Respondent is listed as the registrant and providing the contact details. The Center verified that the 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”).
Among Complainant's earlier registrations for the mark EDREAMS are the following: Registration number 195781 (0790-2000), granted in Class 35 on June 19, 2001 (Slovakia); Registration number 2000-03323, granted in Classes 09, 11, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41 and 42 on November 22, 2000 (Norway); and Registration number 235639 (153616), granted in Class 35 on August 27, 2001 (Czech Republic). Complainant also owns dozens of domain names with a variety of top-level and geographic extensions, based on its trademark and small variations or misspellings.
Complainant contends that this is a case of “typo squatting,” in which Respondent seeks to direct users who misspell Complainant's name to Respondent's own parking page website for Respondent's own commercial purposes. Complaint lists many of its trademark registrations for the term “edreams,” noting that Complainant's earliest three EDREAM trademark registrations were granted before registration of the disputed domain name.
Although the disputed domain name <edremas.com> is not identical to Complainant's trademarks listed above, the Panel agrees with Complainant that Respondent's domain name is confusingly similar to the EDREAMS trademarks.
Removing the suffix, the disputed domain name is almost identical to Complainant's trademarks. The fact that Respondent's domain name substitutes the order of two letters in Complainant's EDREAMS mark does not change the Panel's conclusion that the domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant's trademarks. Without the gtld designation, the remaining word in the disputed domain name “edremas” and Complainant's trademark EDREAMS are similar in appearance and are phonetically very close.
Complainant also owns European Community trademark Registration number 005223061, issued July 26, 2007 for the mark EDREMAS in classes 36, 38 and 39. It is conceivable that this registered trademark, granted three years after registration of the disputed domain name, could be relevant to the Panel's determination under Policy paragraph 4(a)(i). See WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Question 1.4. (consensus view that “[r]egistration of a domain name before a complainant acquires trademark rights in a name does not prevent a finding of identity or confusing similarity”).
There is no evidence in the record respecting Complainant's actual use of the registered EDREMAS trademark, and there is abundant evidence respecting the widespread use of Complainant's several EDREAMS marks. Because the Panel agrees with Complainant that this is essentially a case in which Respondent registered a deliberate misspelling of Complainant's principal EDREAMS marks, the Panel finds it preferable to consider the parties' rights in this proceeding with reference to Complainant's EDREAMS marks and not the more recently registered EDREMAS mark. In this instance, therefore, the Panel's ruling under Policy paragraph 4(a)(i) is based on confusing similarity and not on identity.
As the Complaint exhibits show, Respondent's website displays a parking page, with sponsored links to Complainant's websites and third-party travel agencies. By diverting traffic to third parties and their products, the Panel finds that Respondent is using Complainant's marks for its own commercial purposes. See, e.g., The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. v. Darryl Pope, WIPO Case No. D2007-0593 (“the Panel is free to infer that Respondent is likely receiving some pecuniary benefit . . . in consideration of directing traffic to that site” (citing COMSAT Corporation v. Ronald Isaacs, WIPO Case No. D2004-1082)). See also Fat Face Holdings Ltd v. Belize Domain WHOIS Service Lt, WIPO Case No. D2007-0626; Sanofi-aventis v. Montanya Ltd., WIPO Case No. D2006-1079.
The Panel agrees with Complainant that Respondent is seeking to attract Internet users through Complainant's marks for Respondent's own commercial purposes. The Panel therefore finds that Respondent's use of the disputed domain name demonstrates Respondent's lack of a legitimate non-commercial interest in, or fair use of, the disputed domain name. See e.g., Pfizer Inc. v. jg a/k/a Josh Green, WIPO Case No. D2004-0784. The Panel also finds that Complainant makes out a prima facie case.
The Panel's inference that Respondent had awareness of Complainant's rights is further supported by the content of Respondent's website. Respondent's website includes sponsored advertising links both to Complainant's websites, and to third-party travel agencies and online air ticket sales, the same commercial area in which Complainant uses its trademarks.
As noted above, Respondent's website shows that the disputed domain name is used to promote the products of competitors of Complainant. The Panel concludes that this activity evidences bad faith use by Respondent. Pfizer Inc. v. jg a/k/a Josh Green, supra (citing Google, Inc. v. wwwgoogle.com and Jimmy Siavesh Behain, WIPO Case No. D2000-1240; Casio Keisanki Kabushiki Kaisha (Casio Computer Co., Ltd.) v. Jongchan Kim, WIPO Case No. D2003-0400; Downstream Technologies, LLC v. Bartels System GmbH, WIPO Case No. D2003-0088).2 Respondent's failure to submit any reply to the Complaint is further evidence of bad faith.
For all the foregoing reasons, in accordance with paragraphs 4(i) of the Policy and 15 of the Rules, the Panel orders that the domain name, <edremas.com> be transferred to Complainant.
1 The Panel has undertaken limited research by visiting archives of the web pages to which the disputed domain name routes. See WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Question 4.5.
2 The Panel was unable to confirm prior content on the website because Respondent has inserted a robots.txt file on the website. See “web.archive.org/collections/web/faqs.html#exclusions”(website owners use robot.txt file to signal preference to exclude web crawlers such as those used by the Internet Archive). In the circumstances, the use of such a file by Respondent is considered by the Panel as further evidence of Respondent's bad faith. See, e.g., The iFranchise Group v. Jay Bean / MDNH, Inc. / Moniker Privacy Services , WIPO Case No. D2007-1438.
The Panel does not agree, however, with Complainant's allegation that the website has been inactive for five years, since the Panel infers that Respondent is earning revenues from the sponsored advertising links on the parking page (including the sponsored links to Complainant's own websites).

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