Source: https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2001/d2001-1050.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 10:56:22+00:00

Document:
The Complainants: Fairmont Hotel Management, L.P. and its parent company, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (U.S.) Inc., both of 100 Wellington Street West, Suite 1600, T.D. Centre, P.O. Box 40, Toronto, Ontario M5K 1B7, Canada.
The Respondent: 613181 BC Ltd, 1853 Almhurst Place, Victoria, British Columbia V8N 1R1, Canada.
The domain name in issue is <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com> (hereafter "the domain name").
The domain name was registered with Melbourne IT, Ltd. d/b/a Internet Names Worldwide, 2020 Stuart St, Berkeley, CA 94703, United States of America.
The domain name was registered on April 2, 2000.
(1) The Complaint in Case D2001-1050 was filed on August 21, 2001, in email form, and a hardcopy was received by the Center on August 23, 2001.
(2) At the agreement of the parties the proceeding was suspended on September 13, 2001.
(3) At the request of the Complainant, the proceeding was re-instituted on October 10, 2001.
(5) As Panelist, I submitted a Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence.
(6) There have been neither further submissions nor communications from the Complainant and Respondent, or their representatives, after the appointment of the Panel.
The Complainants in this administrative proceeding are Fairmont Hotel Management, L.P. and its parent company, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (U.S.) Inc. (collectively "Fairmont"). Fairmont began providing service in the hospitality industry in 1907, and is now the largest luxury hotel management company in North America. It has hotels and rooms throughout the United States, Canada, Bermuda, Barbados and Mexico operated under the name FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS.
Hotel Services, 100 (Int�l Class 42).
Hotel Services, in Class 100 (Int�l Class 42).
Specialized Hotel Services for Frequent Customers, (Int�l in Class 42) (C.L. 100).
Hotel Services, in International (Int�l Classes 35 and 42).
Hotel Services associated with a chain of luxury hotels (Int�l Class 42).
(Hereafter these marks will be termed the "FAIRMONT marks").
On July 3, 2001, Fairmont Hotel Management, L.P., the owner of the aforementioned registrations, assigned all rights, titles and interests in and to the Fairmont Marks to its direct parent company, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (U.S.) Inc.
In addition to using FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS as its trade name, Fairmont has made extensive use of the FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS name in almost all of its promotional and advertising materials.
According to the Whois database of the concerned registrar, the Respondent in this administrative proceeding is 613181 BC Ltd, of the address given above. No Response was filed and so no further information is known about the Respondent.
The <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com> domain name does not resolve to any site.
Respondent's domain name <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com> incorporates in its entirety Fairmont's FAIRMONT, FAIRMONT HOTELS, and FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS marks, making the Domain Name confusingly similar to the FAIRMONT marks. See Infospace.com Inc. v. Infospace Technology Co. Ltd., WIPO Case No. D2000-0074. Consumers, almost all of whom have been exposed to the FAIRMONT marks, are likely to believe that the domain name <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com> is related to or associated with Fairmont. Indeed, it is because of the fame of the FAIRMONT marks that Respondent likely registered the Domain Name.
As of the date of registration, Fairmont had been using its FAIRMONT mark for over 90 years, had been operating under the trade name FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS, and had obtained federal trademark registrations all over the world for its FAIRMONT marks. Based on the foregoing, there can be no conceivable, bona fide, or legitimate use of <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com> by Respondent. Guerlain S.A. v. Peikang, WIPO Case No. D2000-0055; Chanel, Inc. v. BuyBeauty.com, WIPO Case No. D2000-1126.
Fairmont has never given Respondent any license, permission, or authorization by which Respondent could own or use <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com>, which incorporates in whole the FAIRMONT, FAIRMONT HOTELS, and the FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS marks. See e.g., Serta, Inc. v. Maximum Investment Corporation, WIPO Case No. D2000-0123; Guerlain S.A. v. H I Investments, WIPO Case No. D2000-0494; Chanel, Inc. v. BuyBeauty.com, WIPO Case No. D2000-1126.
Respondent is not using the Domain Name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services, nor is Respondent making legitimate commercial, noncommercial or fair use of the Domain Name. See Deutsche Bank A.G. v. Diego-Arturo Bruckner, WIPO Case No. D2000-0277.
Where, as here, the FAIRMONT mark is venerable and distinctive, any claim that Respondent has any legitimate interest in the Domain Name is pretextual, given the fame of the FAIRMONT mark, particularly when coupled with the words "hotels" and "resorts". See Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. Frank Gully, WIPO Case No. D2000-0021. See generally Paccar, Inc. v. Telescan Technologies, L.L.C., 115 F. Supp. 2d 772 (use of a party�s trademark in a domain name is unlawful since it sends a message to Internet users that the website is associated with or sponsored by the company owning the trademark).
Although the Domain Name has been registered since April 2, 2000, Respondent has no functioning web site attached the name. This failure to use the Domain Name further supports a finding of no legitimate interest. See World Wrestling Federation v. Bosman, WIPO Case No. D99-0001; Chanel, Inc. v. BuyBeauty.com, WIPO Case No. D2000-1126.
The fact that Respondent has taken the FAIRMONT trademark as its domain name, <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com>, and coupled it with words describing Fairmont�s hotels and resorts is compelling evidence of bad faith. See Fairmont Hotel Management L.P. v. Puts, WIPO Case No. D2001-0431. Further, Fairmont itself uses the composite phrase FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS as a trademark and tradename.
Respondent has failed to use the Domain Name to sell or provide any goods or services. This too is evidence of bad faith. See Chanel, Inc. v. BuyBeauty.com, WIPO Case No. D2000-1126.
The fact that the <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com> domain name incorporates the registered FAIRMONT mark, and is confusingly similar to the FAIRMONT, FAIRMONT HOTELS, and FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS marks, is also evidence of bad faith. Because the ultimate effect of any use of <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com> will be to cause confusion with Fairmont, the use and registration of the Domain Name must be considered to be in bad faith. See Embratel v. McCarthy, WIPO Case No. D2000-0164; Forte (UK) Ltd. v. Ceschel, WIPO Case No. D2000-0283.
Respondent clearly knew of the fame of the FAIRMONT mark when it registered <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com>. John Christopher Middleton, the director of 613181 BC Ltd., is also listed as the corporate general manager of Traveller�s Inn Hotels and Resorts, which operates eight hotels in the Victoria area, and whose center is located at 1961 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC V8T 4K7, Canada. When you go to the Traveller�s Inn website at www.travellersinn.com, the text on the President�s Message page reads: "The company�s objective is to become one of the largest hotel chains in Canada and the U.S� In fact, Traveller�s Inn Hotels and Resorts in the fastest growing chain of quality, affordable hotels in British Columbia." Upon information and belief, Respondent is the manager of a Canadian hotel operation, and is presumably knowledgeable about the hotel industry. The registration of the FAIRMONT marks in Canada, along with Fairmont�s strong presence in the Canadian hotel industry, is further support of Respondent�s knowledge of the fame of the FAIRMONT marks. Given this evidence, the fact that Respondent proceeded with the registration of a domain name that incorporates the FAIRMONT marks in their entirety supports a finding of registration and use in bad faith. Cortefiel, S.A. v. Miguel Garcia Quintas, WIPO Case No. D2000-0140; Fairmont Hotel Management L.P. v. Puts, WIPO Case No. D2001-0431.
613181 BC Ltd. owns at least five other domain names that trade on famous hotel names, including the domain names <econolodgehotels.com>, <holidayinnhotelsandresorts.com>, <holidayinnresorts.com>, <sheratonhotelsandresorts.com>, and <travelodgehotels.com>. As shown by printouts from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office�s website, Respondent does not own the marks ECONO LODGE, HOLIDAY INN, SHERATON or TRAVEL LODGE. Respondent�s ownership of domain names that are identical to famous hotels owned and commercially used by third parties prevents those trademark owners from reflecting their marks in domain names. This pattern of warehousing many domain names based upon marks of others is further evidence of bad faith. See e.g., Nabisco Brands Co. v. The Patron Group, Inc., WIPO Case No. D2000-0032.
The FAIRMONT, FAIRMONT HOTELS, and FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS marks�and by extension <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com>� are so obviously connected with Fairmont that the use of this Domain Name by someone who has no connection to Fairmont or its goods or services suggests "opportunistic bad faith". Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin v. The Polygenix Group Co., WIPO Case No. D2000-0163.
Accordingly, the Complainant requests that the Panel order that the domain name be transferred to the Complainant.
c) The Respondent registered and is using the domain name in bad faith (paragraph 4.a.(iii)).
The Complainant has provided the registration documents for its FAIRMONT marks, within the USA, Canada and the EU. I conclude therefore that the Complainant has satisfied the first requirement of paragraph 4.a.(i).
As to the second requirement, the domain name is clearly confusingly similar to the FAIRMONT marks. Given that the name of the hotel chain and the FAIRMONT marks are combined with the services that the Complainant provides, there can be little doubt that consumers would be confused upon finding any website of the Respondent at the domain name. I conclude that the second element of paragraph 4.a.(i) is made out.
I conclude therefore that the Complainant has satisfied the requirements of paragraph 4.a.(i) of the UDRP.
There is no evidence of any of these circumstances in this case. And given the distinctive concatenation of the Complainant�s marks and tradename, this is unsurprising. As a result I conclude that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interest in the domain name. I conclude that the Complainant has satisfied the requirements of paragraph 4.a.(ii) of the UDRP.
This is one of those cases where the Respondent has done nothing other than register the name. The issue then is whether passive use constitutes bad faith registration and use. I conclude, following Telstra, Ltd. v. Nuclear Marshmallows, WIPO Case No. D2000-0003, that it is. The same sorts of factors that lead the Telstra Panel to conclude bad faith in that case exist in this case also. Notably, there is the extensive international brand recognition of the Complainant�s marks. Then there is the fact that the domain name includes not only the marks, but the entire tradename of the Complainant which specifies the services which the Complainant offers. Further, there is the evidence that an agent of the Respondent is in the hotel business, and so is aware of the tradename of the Complainant. Finally there is evidence that the Respondent has engaged in a pattern of registering domain names of well-known hotel chains that it is extremely unlikely to have any legitimate claim to.
In the circumstances it is clear that the Respondent has acted in bad faith pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 4.a.(iii).
I hereby order that the domain name <fairmonthotelsandresorts.com> be transferred to the Complainant.

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