Westmore · UDRP DecisionChatroulettegirl.com, Chatroulettesex.com
The Panel ordered transfer of both disputed domain names. It found them confusingly similar to the Complainant's CHATROULETTE mark because each incorporated the mark in full with the dictionary term “girl” or “sex.” The Complainant established an unrebutted prima facie case that the Respondent lacked rights or legitimate interests. Bad faith was found because the domains resolved to competing online chat services of a sexual nature and were used to attract Internet users for commercial gain through confusion with the CHATROULETTE mark.
The timeline behind chatroulettegirl.com
Registration, the decision and the archived record of what this domain actually displayed — from public RDAP and the Internet Archive.
Westmore reconstructs the full history behind chatroulettegirl.com — from public RDAP and the Internet Archive — as part of UDRP Intelligence:
How each disputed name was decided in this proceeding.
The decision illustrates the application of the UDRP to domains that reproduce a mark in full while adding adult-oriented dictionary terms. Confusing similarity was straightforward, while the domains' use for directly competing chat services supplied the principal link between the composition of the domains and the finding of commercial-gain bad faith.
Result of record. The panel's reasoning and decisive facts behind each element are in the Intelligence dossier below.
WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION Andrey Ternovskiy dba Chatroulette v. Savvy Investments, Savvy Investments, LLC Privacy ID# 793366 / Savvy Investments, Savvy Investments, LLC Privacy ID# 793365 Case No. D2018-2271 1. The Parties The Complainant is Andrey Ternovskiy dba Chatroulette of Sliema, Malta, represented by CSC Digital Brand Services Group AB, Sweden. The Respondent is Savvy Investments, Savvy Investments, LLC Privacy ID# 793366 / Savvy Investments, Savvy Investments, LLC Privacy ID# 793365 of Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States of America. 2. The Domain Names and Registrar The disputed domain names <chatroulettegirl.com> and <chatroulettesex.com> are registered with Sea Wasp, LLC (the “Registrar”). 3. Procedural History The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on October 8, 2018. On October 8, 2018, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain names. On October 16, 2018, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that the 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”). In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2 and 4, the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on October 17, 2018. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was November 6, 2018. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on November 7, 2018. The Center appointed Tuukka Airaksinen as the sole panelist in this matter on November 13, 2018. 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 the proprietor of the trademark CHATROULETTE, registered for example in the European Union under the number 008944076 on December 4, 2012 with priority from March 10, 2010, and in the United States of America under number 4445843 on December 10, 2013 and first used in commerce on December 5, 2009. The Complainant’s mark is used for a website that pairs random people from around the world for real-time conversations. The service was launched in 2009. The disputed domain name <chatroulettegirl.com> was registered on July 5, 2011 and the disputed domain name <chatroulettesex.com> was registered on February 18, 2010. 5. Parties’ Contentions A. Complainant The disputed domain names are confusingly similar to the Complainant’s trademark, because they incorporate the trademark in its entirety and add merely generic terms “sex” and “girl”, respectively, with it. The Complainant has not authorized or otherwise allowed the Respondent to use its trademark in the disputed domain names. The Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name and has no rights or legitimate interests thereto. The Respondent must have been aware of the Complainant’s trademark when registering the disputed domain names. The Respondent has intentionally misappropriated the Complainant’s trademark as a way of directing Internet users to the Respondent’s website for commercial gain. The Respondent uses a privacy service and did not respond to the Complainant’s cease and desist letters. B. Respondent The Respondent did not reply to the Complainant’s contentions. 6. Discussion and Findings In order to obtain the transfer of a domain name, a complainant must prove the three elements of paragraph 4(a) of the Policy, regardless of whether the respondent files a response to the complaint. The first element is that the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights. The second element a complainant must prove is that the respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name. The third element a complainant must establish is that the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. A. Identical or Confusingly Similar Paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy requires that the complainant establish that the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights. Consequently, the complainant must prove that it has rights to a trademark, and that the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to this trademark. The disputed domain names both include the Complainant’s registered trademark in its entirety. The Respondent has added the dictionary English terms “sex” and “girl”, respectively. The addition of the dictionary terms would not prevent a finding of confusing similarity under the first element. The nature of such additional terms may however bear on assessment of the second and third elements ( section 1.8 of the WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Third Edition (“WIPO Overview 3.0 ”)). Accordingly, the Panel finds that the disputed domain names are confusingly similar to the Complainant’s respective trademark and hence the first element of the Policy has been fulfilled. B. Rights or Legitimate Interests Paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the Policy requires that the complainant establishes that the respondent has no rights or legitimate interests to the disputed domain name. It is widely accepted among UDRP panels that once a complainant has made a prima facie showing indicating the absence of the respondent’s rights or legitimate interests in a disputed domain name the burden of production shifts to the respondent to come forward with relevant evidence of such rights or legitimate interests. If the respondent fails to do so, the complainant is deemed to have satisfied the second element of the Policy. See, e.g. , Document Technologies, Inc. v. International Electronic Communications Inc. , WIPO Case No. D2000-0270 and section 2.1 of the WIPO Overview 3.0 . The Complainant has credibly submitted that the Respondent is not a licensee of the Complainant, nor has it been otherwise allowed by the Complainant to use the Complainant’s trademark in domain names or otherwise. The Complainant has also credibly submitted that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests to the disputed domain names. Accordingly, the Panel finds that the Complainant has made a prima facie case that has not been rebutted by the Respondent. In light of the Panel’s findings below, the Panel finds that there are no other circumstances that provide the Respondent with any rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain names. Therefore, the Panel finds that the second element of the Policy is fulfilled. C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith Paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy requires that the Complainant establish that the disputed domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. Paragraph 4(b) of the Policy provides that the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to be present, shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name in bad faith: “(i) circumstances indicating that [the respondent has] registered or has acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of [the respondent’s] documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or (ii) [the respondent has] registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that [the respondent has] engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or (iii) [the respondent has] registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business or competitor; or (iv) by using the domain name, [the respondent has] intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to [the respondent’s] website or other online location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant’s mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of [the respondent’s] website or location or of a product or service on [the respondent’s] website or location.” The disputed domain names resolve to a website providing services of online chat with sexual nature. Considering that the Respondent has not responded to the Complaint, has not responded to the Complainant’s cease and desist letters, is providing services competing with the Complainant and is using a privacy service to conceal its real identity, the Panel finds that the disputed domain names were registered and are used to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to the Respondent’s website by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant’s trademark. Hence, the Panel finds that the disputed domain names were registered and are being used in bad faith. Therefore, the Panel finds that the third element of the Policy is fulfilled. 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 disputed domain names <chatroulettegirl.com> and <chatroulettesex.com> be transferred to the Complainant. Tuukka Airaksinen Sole Panelist Date: November 27, 2018
Source of record: WIPO . Reproduced for research; WIPO is the authoritative source.
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