Source: https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/text.jsp?case=D2013-0742
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 00:45:45+00:00

Document:
The Complainant is Swarovski Aktiengesellschaft of Triesen, Liechtenstein, represented by LegalBase (Pvt) Limited, Sri Lanka.
The Respondent is Frank Jackie of Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America.
The disputed domain name <swarovski-onlineshop.com> is registered with eNom (the “Registrar”).
The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on April 24, 2013. On April 24, 2013, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On April 25, 2013, 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 May 2, 2013 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 amendment to the Complaint on May 6, 2013.
In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2(a) and 4(a), the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on May 10, 2013. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was May 30, 2013. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on May 31, 2013.
The Center appointed Reynaldo Urtiaga Escobar as the sole panelist in this matter on June 6, 2013. 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.
The proceedings are conducted in English as this is the language of the disputed domain name’s registration agreement.
The Complainant is a worldwide leading producer of cut crystal, gemstones, and crystalline semi-finished goods for the fashion, jewelry, home decor, collectibles, and lighting industries.
The Complainant markets its high-end crystal products in more than 120 countries through its 1,218 boutiques, and more than 1000 partner-operated retail stores located all over the world, including the United States of America where the Respondent is domiciled.
The Complainant holds trademark registrations for SWAROVSKI in the United States of America, with the earliest trademark registration dating back to May 30, 1972. The Complainant also owns international trademark registrations for SWAROVSKI since November 3, 2004.
The Respondent registered the disputed domain name on May 8, 2012. The disputed domain name is currently inactive but once resolved to a website displaying jewelry-related PPC links, including one category captioned “Swarovski online”.
The Complainant claims to have been concerned about the possibility of cyber-flight in this case. Accordingly, instead of serving a Cease and Desist Letter on the Respondent first, the Complainant filed a UDRP Complaint so as to ensure that the disputed domain name remained on ‘registrar-lock’ status pending resolution of the instant administrative proceedings.
x. The Respondent uses the SWAROVSKI mark throughout its online shop in which goods similar to those produced by the Complainant are offered, which is a blatant infringement of the SWAROVSKI mark.
iii. the disputed domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith.
These elements are discussed in turn below. In considering these elements, paragraph 15(a) of the Rules provides that the Panel shall decide the Complaint on the basis of statements and documents submitted and in accordance with the Policy, the Rules and any other rules or principles of law that the Panel deems applicable.
The gateway question under paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy is whether the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to the Complainant’s trademark, not whether the website to which the disputed domain name resolve will confuse Internet users. See The Vanguard Group, Inc. v. John Zuccarini, WIPO Case No. D2002-0834 (a complainant need not to establish actual confusion because the test is objective, not subjective).
The Complainant proves to hold registered trademark rights since 1972 in the United States of America, among many other countries, as well as worldwide reputation in the mark SWAROVSKI. Having so established, the Complainant goes on to allege that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the SWAROVSKI mark because the disputed domain name incorporates the Complainant’s mark in its entirety. The Complainant also contends that the addition of the terms “online” and “shop” to the disputed domain name does not lessen the confusing similarity between the latter and the SWAROVSKI mark.
Paragraph 1.2 of the WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Second Edition (“WIPO Overview 2.0”) explains that the test for confusing similarity under the UDRP involves a straightforward visual or aural comparison between the trademark and the disputed domain name itself to determine likelihood of Internet user confusion and that, in order to satisfy this test, the relevant trademark would generally need to be recognizable as such within the domain name, with the addition of common, dictionary, descriptive, or negative terms typically being regarded as insufficient to prevent Internet user confusion.
In subscribing to the consensus view, the Panel finds that the term SWAROVSKI is immediately recognizable as a trademark within the disputed domain name.
Now, in comparing the mark SWAROVSKI to “Swarovski-onlineshop”, being the relevant portion of the disputed domain name for confusion analysis purposes, the Panel finds that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the SWAROVSKI mark as the latter is embodied in its entirety in the disputed domain name. See Verizon Trademark Services LLC v. The Helard Group, WIPO Case No. D2012-0277 (several UDRP panels have held that incorporating a trademark in its entirety is generally sufficient to establish that a domain name is identical or confusingly similar to complainant’s mark). A finding of confusing similarity is all the more warranted where, as here, the mark incorporated in the disputed domain name is well-known. See Ansell Healthcare Products Inc. v. Australian Therapeutics Supplies Pty, Ltd., WIPO Case No. D2001-0110 (The incorporation of a complainant’s well-known trademark in the registered domain name is considered sufficient to find the domain name confusingly similar to the complainant's trademark).
The presence of the generic terms “online” and “shop” only reaffirms the confusing similarity between the disputed domain name and the Complainant’s mark as Internet users are misled into believing that the Complainant’s genuine jewelry products are for sale on the Respondent’s website. See Jack Wolfskin Ausrüstung für Draussen GmbH & Co. KGaA v. bob rivera, WIPO Case No. D2013-0178 (The addition of the word “onlineshop” does not detract from the distinctiveness of the Complainant’s mark. Since it is a description of a service offered by the Complainant, in the opinion of the Panel, it rather adds to the confusing similarity between the disputed domain name and the Complainant’s mark). It goes without saying that the hyphen found in the disputed domain name is irrelevant for the purpose of differentiating the Complainant’s mark from the disputed domain name.
Accordingly, the Panel finds that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s SWAROVSKI mark.
The Complainant has thus met the first threshold of paragraph 4(a) of the Policy.
The Complainant avers to have never licensed or authorized the Respondent to apply for any domain name incorporating its SWAROVSKI mark. Equally, the Complainant submits that the Respondent is not known by the disputed domain name. On these credible assertions and the evidence put forward regarding the use to which the disputed domain name was subjected prior to the Respondent’s website being discontinued, the Panel finds that the Complainant has established a prima facie case against the Respondent.
In the absence of a Response, this Panel may draw appropriate inferences from the Respondent’s default. See Pavillion Agency, Inc.,Cliff Greenhouse and Keith Greenhouse v. Greenhouse Agency Ltd., and Glenn Greenhouse, WIPO Case No. D2000-1221 (finding that the respondent's failure to respond can be construed as an admission that it has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name); Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce v. D3M Virtual Reality Inc., eResolution Case No. AF-0336 (finding no rights or legitimate interests where no such rights or interests were immediately apparent to the panel and the respondent did not come forward to suggest any right or interest it may have possessed).
Further, the printouts produced by the Complainant of the Respondent’s website show that on April 24, 2013, the website at the disputed domain name displayed PPC links relating exclusively to jewelry items such as necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.
This use of the disputed domain name cannot be characterized as bona fide within the meaning of paragraph 4(c)(i) of the Policy because the Respondent is taking unfair advantage of the goodwill associated with the SWAROVSKI mark, to obtain click-through revenues for enabling access to third party websites which in turn offer competing goods to those marketed by the Complainant under its well-known mark.
Neither does it constitute a legitimate noncommercial or fair use within the purview of paragraph 4(c)(iii) of the Policy because the Internet users are deceptively attracted to the Respondent’s website only to find out later that such website is not the Complainant’s official online store as they had reasonably expected.
As a result, the Complainant has demonstrated the second limb of paragraph 4(a) of the Policy.
The Complainant alleges that the registration of the disputed domain name, which wholly incorporates the Complainant’s mark was no accident because ”Swarovski” is not a generic or descriptive term but a well-known mark. The Complainant further submits that the Respondent could not have conceivably been unaware of the Complainant’s trademark SWAROVSKI at the time of registration of the disputed domain name.
Furthermore, the Panel finds that the Respondent’s use of the disputed domain name to display PPC links exclusively related to jewellery items is conclusive evidence of bad faith use under Policy paragraph 4(b)(iv) above because first, the Respondent was collecting, or at least intended to collect, click-through fees, and second, the Respondent created initial confusion among Internet users who were attracted to a website providing access to goods in competition with those marketed by the Complainant under its SWAROVSKI mark. See Dr. Martens International Trading GmbH, Dr. Maertens Marketing GmbH v. Private Whois Service, WIPO Case No. D2011-1753 (PPC links on the Respondent’s website overwhelmingly refer to the Complainants’ marks and products. The Panel therefore infers that the Respondent profited from the goodwill associated with the DR. MARTENS mark by collecting click-through fees and that the Respondent used the domain name in bad faith).
It is also the Panel’s opinion that the Respondent has been tarnishing the reputation of the Complainant’s mark by associating SWAROVSKI’s fine jewelry products to third party sites offering imitation jewelry.
The Complainant has therefore discharged its burden in connection with paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy.
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 <swarovski-onlineshop.com> be transferred to the Complainant.

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