Bollandbranchsell.shop

The timeline behind bollandbranchsell.shop

Registration, the decision and the archived record of what this domain actually displayed — from public RDAP and the Internet Archive.

Result of record. The panel's reasoning and decisive facts behind each element are in the Intelligence dossier below.

ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION CENTER ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION Boll & Branch LLC v. GEOFFREY BOWMAN Case No. D2026-3829 1. The Parties The Complainant is Boll & Branch LLC, United States of America (“United States” or “U.S.”), represented by Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL, United States. The Respondent is GEOFFREY BOWMAN, United States. 2. The Domain Name and Registrar The disputed domain name <bollandbranchsell.shop> (the “Disputed Domain Name”) is registered with Dynadot Inc. (the “Registrar”). 3. Procedural History The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on August 26, 2026. On August 27, 2026, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the Disputed Domain Name. On August 28, 2026, 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 (Redacted for Privacy) and contact information in the Complaint. The Center sent an email communication to the Complainant on August 28, 2026, 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 amended Complaint on August 28, 2026, and an amendment to the Complaint on August 28, 2026. The Center verified that the Complaint together with the amendment to the Complaint and amended 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 August 31, 2026. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was September 20, 2026. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on September 21, 2026. page 2 The Center appointed Douglas M. Isenberg as the sole panelist in this matter on September 23, 2026. 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 states that it is “an internationally known luxury textile business with a successful e- commerce website located at <bollandbranch.com>; that it “sells high-quality luxury bedding products and apparel, including robes and sleepwear”; and that it is the owner of trademark registrations for BOLL & BRANCH in the United States and Canada as well as “other jurisdictions,” including the following (some of which were supported by appropriate documentation): 1 • U.S. Reg. No. 5,585,449 for BOLL & BRANCH (registered October 16, 2018) for use in connection with pillows and duvets; • U.S. Reg. No. 7,812,249 for BOLL & BRANCH (registered May 27, 2025) for use in connection with “furniture, namely, bed frames, headboards, dressers, night stands, benches, and chests”; and • Canada Reg. No. TMA998734 for BOLL & BRANCH (registered June 11, 2018) for use in connection with “textiles, namely, bath towels and hand towels; bed and bath linens; bedding, namely, flat sheets and fitted sheets, pillow cases, pillow sham cases, duvet covers, bed spreads, bed blankets, throws, bed skirts, crib sheets”. These registrations are referred to herein as the “BOLL & BRANCH Trademark.” The Disputed Domain Name was created on August 8, 2026. As stated in the Complaint, and as confirmed by screenshots attached thereto, the Disputed Domain Name is being used in connection with “a knockoff version of the Complainant’s website” that contains “(1) goods which are purportedly for sale (using Complainant product photos of items Complainant actually sells on its legitimate website, such as sheets, duvets, and other textile products); (2) a logo which is identical to that which is found at Complainant’s website; and (3) a claim that it is owned by ‘Boll and Branch.’” 5. Parties’ Contentions A. Complainant The Complainant contends that it has satisfied each of the elements required under the Policy for a transfer of the Disputed Domain Name. Notably, the Complainant contends, in relevant part, that: • The Disputed Domain Name is identical or confusingly similar to the BOLL & BRANCH Trademark because the Disputed Domain Name “contains the entirety” of the BOLL & BRANCH Trademark plus the word “sell,” which “does not distinguish” the Disputed Domain Name from the BOLL & BRANCH Trademark. • The Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the Disputed Domain Name because “neither Respondent, nor, upon information and belief, anyone affiliated with Respondent, is commonly known by the name ‘Boll and Branch’”; “Respondent has not acquired any trademark or service mark rights in the name”; 1 The Complainant stated but failed to include supporting documentation for the Canadian trademark registrations it cited. However, exercising its authority under the Rules, the Panel has confirmed the Canadian trademark registration cited herein. See WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Select UDRP Questions (“WIPO Overview 3.1”), section 4.8: “Noting in particular the general powers of a panel articulated inter alia in paragraphs 10 and 12 of the UDRP Rules, it has been accepted that a panel may undertake limited factual research into matters of public record if it would consider such information useful to assessing the case merits and reaching a decision, in particular to affirm or corroborate a party’s contention. This may include ... accessing trademark registration databases.” page 3 “Complainant has not authorized Respondent, or anyone acting in concert with or at the direction of Respondent, to use the [BOLL & BRANCH Trademark] in the context of the Disputed Domain or for any other reason”; “UDRP panels have found that fraudulent uses of disputed domain names do not constitute a bona fide offering of goods or services, nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name because they are likely to create consumer confusion”; and “[g]enerally, where a domain name consists of a complainant’s trademark, Panels have held that such composition cannot constitute fair use because it effectively impersonates or suggests sponsorship or endorsement by the trademark owner” especially where, as here, “the Respondent has directly copied substantial elements of the prior, legitimate version of the website located at the Disputed Domain.” • The Disputed Domain Name was registered and is being used in bad faith because “Panels have consistently found the mere registration of a domain name that is confusingly similar to a widely-known trademark by an unaffiliated entity by itself creates a presumption of bad faith registration”; “given Complainant’s U.S. Federal and Canadian trademark registrations and applications for the [BOLL & BRANCH Trademark], Respondent knew or should have known of Complainant’s rights in the [BOLL & BRANCH Trademark] prior to its registration of the Disputed Domain”; and “Respondent’s conduct falls squarely within Section 4(b)(iv) of the Policy, which provides that bad faith may be found where, by using the domain name, the respondent has intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to its website 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 of a product or service on the respondent’s website.” B. Respondent The Respondent did not reply to the Complainant’s contentions. 6. Discussion and Findings A. Identical or Confusingly Similar Based upon the trademark registrations cited by the Complainant, it is apparent that the Complainant has rights in and to the BOLL & BRANCH Trademark. As to whether the Disputed Domain Name is identical or confusingly similar to the BOLL & BRANCH Trademark, the relevant comparison to be made is with the second-level portion of the Disputed Domain Name only (i.e., “bollandbranchsell”) because “[t]he applicable Top Level Domain (‘TLD’) in a domain name (e.g., ‘.com’, ‘.club’, ‘.nyc’) is viewed as a standard registration requirement and as such is disregarded under the first element confusing similarity test”. WIPO Overview 3.1, section 1.11.1. As set forth in section 1.7 of WIPO Overview 3.1, “in cases where a domain name incorporates the entirety of a trademark, ... the domain name will normally be considered confusingly similar to that mark.” 2 Further, as set forth in section 1.8 of WIPO Overview 3.1, “[w]here the relevant trademark is recognizable within the disputed domain name, the addition of other terms (whether descriptive, geographical, pejorative, meaningless, or otherwise) would not prevent a finding of confusing similarity under the first element.” Here, the Disputed Domain Name contains the entirety of the BOLL & BRANCH Trademark, and the addition of the word “sell” does not prevent a finding of confusing similarity. The Panel finds the first element of the Policy has been established. 2 The Disputed Domain Name’s inclusion of the word “and” instead of an ampersand is irrelevant given that “the ampersand symbol means ‘and’” (L’Oréal v. PPA Media Services, Ryan G Foo / Fundacion Private Whois, Domain Administrator, WIPO Case No. D2013- 2230), and “the ampersand symbol may not comprise part of a domain name.” Wright & Lato, Inc. v. Michael L. Epstein, WIPO Case No. D2000-0621. page 4 B. Rights or Legitimate Interests The Complainant has argued that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Disputed Domain Name because, inter alia, “neither Respondent, nor, upon information and belief, anyone affiliated with Respondent, is commonly known by the name ‘Boll and Branch’”; “Respondent has not acquired any trademark or service mark rights in the name”; “Complainant has not authorized Respondent, or anyone acting in concert with or at the direction of Respondent, to use the [BOLL & BRANCH Trademark] in the context of the Disputed Domain or for any other reason”; “UDRP panels have found that fraudulent uses of disputed domain names do not constitute a bona fide offering of goods or services, nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name because they are likely to create consumer confusion”; and “[g]enerally, where a domain name consists of a complainant’s trademark, Panels have held that such composition cannot constitute fair use because it effectively impersonates or suggests sponsorship or endorsement by the trademark owner” especially where, as here, “the Respondent has directly copied substantial elements of the prior, legitimate version of the website located at the Disputed Domain.” WIPO Overview 3.1, section 2.1, states: “Although the overall burden of proof in UDRP proceedings is on the complainant, panels have recognized that proving that a respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests in a domain name may result in the often impossible task of ‘proving a negative’, requiring information that is often primarily within the knowledge or control of the respondent. As such, where a complainant makes out a prima facie case that the respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests, the burden of production on this element shifts to the respondent to come forward with relevant evidence demonstrating rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. If the respondent fails to come forward with such relevant evidence, the complainant is deemed to have satisfied the second element.” The Panel finds that the Complainant has established its prima facie case and without any evidence from the Respondent to the contrary, the Panel is satisfied that the Complainant has satisfied the second element of the Policy. C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith Whether a domain name is registered and used in bad faith for purposes of the Policy may be determined by evaluating four (non-exhaustive) factors set forth in the Policy: (i) circumstances indicating that the registrant has registered or 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 registrant’s documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or (ii) the registrant 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 registrant has engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or (iii) the registrant has registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or (iv) by using the domain name, the registrant has intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to the registrant’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 registrant’s website or location or of a product or service on the registrant’s website or location. Policy, paragraph 4(b). By using the Disputed Domain Name in connection with a website that appears to be a website for, or associated with, the Complainant – by using the BOLL & BRANCH Trademark on its website, by purportedly offering for sale the same goods associated with the BOLL & BRANCH Trademark and by allegedly “cop[ying] substantial elements of the prior, legitimate version of” the Complainant’s website – the Respondent has clearly created a likelihood of confusion pursuant to paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy. See, e.g., The Dow Chemical Company v. dowaychemical eva_hwang@21cn.com +86.7508126859, WIPO Case No. D2008-1078 (finding bad faith where complainant alleged that respondent’s website “fraudulently impersonat[ed] the Complainant” because “[t]he Respondent was clearly specifically targeting the Complainant’s trademark and attempting to divert Internet users searching for the Complainant’s product to the Respondent’s website”); Emu (Aus) Pty Ltd. and Emu Ridge Holdings Pty Ltd. v. Antonia Deinert, WIPO page 5 Case No. D2010-1390 (“a reasonable person who visited the Respondent’s website was likely to be misled in relation to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of the website and the products purportedly made available for online sale on the website”); and Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Cantor Index Limited v. Cantor Index, WIPO Case No. D2010-0807 (finding bad faith where “Respondent copied text, logos and other elements from Complainant’s website”). The Panel finds that the Complainant has established the third element of the Policy. 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 name <bollandbranchsell.shop> be transferred to the Complainant. /Douglas M. Isenberg/ Douglas M. Isenberg Sole Panelist Date: September 30, 2026

Source of record: WIPO . Reproduced for research; WIPO is the authoritative source.