WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION

YPF S.A. v. WhoIs Privacy Protection Service, Inc. / Laura Victoria Zelaya

Case No. DCO2014-0032

1. The Parties

The Complainant is YPF S.A. of Buenos Aires, Argentina, represented by Richards, Cardinal, Tutzer, Zabala & Zaeferrer, Argentina.

The Respondent is WhoIs Privacy Protection Service, Inc. of Kirkland, Washington, United States of America (the “USA”) / Laura Victoria Zelaya of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2. The Domain Name and Registrar

The disputed domain name <ypfserviclub.co> is registered with Name.com LLC (the “Registrar”).

3. Procedural History

The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on November 17, 2014. On November 18, 2014, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On November 20, 2014, 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 November 26, 2014 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 November 26, 2014.

The Center verified that the Complaint together with the 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(a) and 4(a), the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on December 8, 2014. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was December 28, 2014. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on December 29, 2014.

The Center appointed Antonio Millé as the sole panelist in this matter on January 12, 2015. 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

A. Complainant

It is a fact of public knowledge for any Argentinean that YPF is short for “Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales” (“State Oilfields”) and that this entity it is an old oil company with gas stations practically in all the locations and routes of the country. It is hard to imagine a person in Argentina ignoring such circumstance and that those that buy products or services in these gas stations receive point for a “rewards program” or “loyalty program” called “Serviclub”.

As per the Complainant’s allegations, YPF “has a market share of 35% in Argentina in the oil and gas segment and employs almost 45000 people directly and indirectly […] YPF Trademarks are extremely well known in Argentina and other South American countries […] appears in TV commercials, advertisements in newspapers, webpages and magazines, billboards in the streets, etc ”. As stated by the Complaint that the YPF Serviclub Program “is very popular and widely known in Argentina […] it includes more than 700.000 active participants, […] YPF had a significant number of gas stations across the country holding the YPF trademarks, as well as an intense deployment of advertising for the corporate name and the YPF Serviclub program”.

With the copies annexed to the Complaint, the Complainant proved that it is the owner of YPF, SERVICLUB and YPF SERVICLUB / SERVICLUB YPF trademarks, duly registered in Argentina, as the following chart shows:

The Complainant also alleges and demonstrates that they have registered the YPF trademark in Bolivia, Brasil and Paraguay, as well as the registration and use of different domain names containing their registered trademarks.

The disputed domain name was registered on September 5, 2014.

As per the Complainant’s assertions and the material evidence they provide, at the time of filing of the Complaint, the disputed domain name resolved to a webpage displaying content similar to those of the official Web site of YPF “Serviclub” consumer rewards program. The Panel could not verify this because, probably as consequence of a preliminary injunction measure alluded by the Complainant, at the time of this decision the disputed domain name did not resolve to an active webpage.

B. Respondent

In this case, the Complaint was originally brought against “Whois Agent of WhoIs Privacy Protection Service, Inc.”, a services provider for anonymity regarding domain names registrants. Then, the name “Laura Victoria Zelaya” was disclosed by the Registrar as that of the actual Registrant of the disputed domain name. The Panel has examined the circumstances and following the practices of the Center in privacy cases and has decided to consider both, the entity and the individual as the Respondent (hereafter referred to as the “Respondent”).

Laura Victoria Zelaya is supposedly an individual domiciled in Argentina.

C. The Disputed Domain Name

The disputed domain name <serviclubypf.co> was registered on September 5, 2014.

5. Parties’ Contentions

A. Complainant

The Complainant made the following submissions in the Complaint:

a) “Even under the highest standard of identity that may be applied to this case, it can be noticed without much effort that the domain name is identical to YPF’s trademarks (e.g. “SERVICLUB” and “SERVICLUB YPF”). […] the Respondent not only had slavishly copied the YPF’s Trademark […] by registering the Domain Name, but also created an entire website “imitating” and official YPF´s website […] These elements create a high level of confusion among the Internet users that enter into this website and reasonably believe that they are in an official YPF website […] causing a high risk that Internet users may actually believe there to be a real connection between the Domain Name and the YPF Serviclub Program”.

b) “There is a malicious and unlawful conduct by the Respondent who included –without any consent or authorization granted by YPF- YPF’s Trademarks, in order to achieve some sort of “pirate” website of the YPF Serviclub Program”. “The Respondent has not used the Domain name […] in connection to a bona fide offering of goods and services […] since the Respondent is neither the owner nor the administrator of the YPF Serviclub Program and has no right to use YPF´s Trademarks or advertise the YPF Serviclub Program in any way”. “The Respondent has not been commonly known by the Domain Name. “YPF SERVICLUB” is a very “uncommon” word […] the Respondent uses the Domain Name to obtain personal gain by diverting consumers […]”.

c) “The trademark “SERVICLUB YPF” was firs registered three decades ago and nowadays it is still registered by YPF under several trademark classes … this fact clearly show that the Respondent knew the existence of the aforementioned trademarks before registering the Domain Name and that said registration could only be considered an illegal maneuver on the Respondent’s part to illegally profit from YPF’s Trademarks and marketing initiatives. … There is not plausible way in which the Respondent could argue that he did not know about YPF or the YPF Serviclub Program, especially when he plagiarizes YPF’s copyright and trademark material all over his/her website”. […] “Respondent registered the Domain Name and developed an entire website using YPF’s Trademarks and logos and incorporated YPF’s “look and feel” to make Internet users believe that the Domain Name was hosting an official YPF’s website”.

d) The Complainant makes reference to a request for a temporary injunction filed in the Federal Civil and Commercial Court of the City of Buenos Aires, which was allegedly granted on September 30, 2014.

B. Respondent

The Respondent did not reply to the Complainant’s contentions.

6. Discussion and Findings

A. Identical or Confusingly Similar

The disputed domain name is identical to the registered trademark YPFSERVICLUB owned by the Complainant. There are no further considerations to make in this respect, being the matter so clear and evident to the Panel.

The Panel therefore finds that the disputed domain name is identical to the Complainant’s YPF and YPFSERVICLUB trademark and finds therefore, that the Complainant fulfills the first condition of paragraph 4(a) of the Policy.

B. Rights or Legitimate Interests

Under paragraph 4(c) of the Policy, rights or legitimate interests in a domain name may be demonstrated by showing that:

(i) before any notice of the dispute, the respondent used, or demonstrably prepared to use, the domain name or a name corresponding to the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services;

(ii) the respondent has been commonly known by the domain name, even if no trademark or service mark rights have been acquired; or

(iii) the respondent is making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent for commercial gain or to misleadingly divert customers or to tarnish the trademark at issue.

In the present case, the Respondent has not answered to the Complaint and therefore, it has not given any basis to a right or legitimate interest in respect of the use of the trademark SERVICLUBYPF in the disputed domain name. The use of the disputed domain name to lead Internet-users to a “look alike” website and the evident possibility of confusion for those Internet-users have been alleged by the Complainant and supported by convincing evidence.

Furthermore, the Panel has taken into consideration: a) the complete difference between the Respondent’s name and the disputed domain name; b) that the Respondent does not appear to be using the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services; c) that there is no evidence that the Respondent is commonly known by a denomination similar to the disputed domain name; and d) that all the factual circumstances suggest that the Respondent is making a commercial use of the disputed domain name, with the intent for commercial gain by means of misleadingly diverting consumers.

It is well established that the Complainant must show a prima facie case that the Respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name, after which the burden of production shifts to the Respondent (see, e.g., Croatia Airlines d.d. v. Modern Empire Internet Ltd., WIPO Case No. D2003-0455). The absence of rights or legitimate interests is established if a complainant makes out a prima facie case and the respondent files no response (see Accor v. Eren Atesmen, WIPO Case No. D2009-0701 citing De Agostini S.p.A. v. Marco Cialone, WIPO Case No. DTV2002-0005). Previous UDRP panel decisions in cases where no sign of rights or legitimate interests in the domain name was apparent, and the respondent did not make any attempt to rebut the prima facie case made by the complainant, have stated that the panel may decide the dispute on the basis of the complainant’s undisputed contentions of facts. Although the respondent’s default does not automatically result in a decision in favour of the complainant, the panel may draw negative inferences from the same (see Unilever N.V. v. Kentech, WIPO Case No. D2005-1021).

On this basis, the Panel finds that the Respondent failed to produce any evidence to establish rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.

Therefore, the Panel finds that the second requirement of paragraph 4(a) of the Policy is met.

C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith

The Complainant based the Complaint on this point on the existence of the circumstances set out in paragraph 4(b) of the Policy regarding the registration and use of the disputed domain name in bad faith.

The disputed domain name was registered by the Respondent long after the Complainant’s YPF trademarks were registered in different countries and about nine years later than the first registration of the SERVICLUB YPF trademark.

The registration and use of a well-known trademark as domain name seems to the Panel a typical expression of the conduct of those that “intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to a web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant’s mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of this web site or location or of a product or service on such web site or location” (Policy, paragraph 4(b)(iv)). This conviction is reinforced by the fact alleged by the Complainant, not refuted by the Respondent, that previously to temporary injunction obtained by the Complainant from the Federal Civil and Commercial Court of the City of Buenos Aires, Internet users entering the disputed domain name as address in a browser, access to a website disguised to seem the official one of the Complainant’s consumer rewards program website. In the Panel’s view, this is an archetypal and clear attempt of Internet-user confusion.

Moreover, as previous panels have considered, the use of resources to hide one’s identity reinforces the conviction with respect to the Respondent’s bad faith (see Groupama SA vs. Med / Med filali, WIPO Case No. DMA2010-0003; Ustream.TV, Inc. v. Vertical Axis, Inc, WIPO Case No. D2008-0598).

In these circumstances, and considering that the Respondent did not provide any plausible good faith reason for registering and using the disputed domain name <serviclubypf.co>, the Panel cannot find any justification for such registration and use of the disputed domain name, which clearly and univocally evokes the Complainant’s trademark and suggests the existence of a place to find information about the “consumers loyalty program” of the Complainant.

Based on the above, the Panel finds that the Complainant has met the third requirement under paragraph 4(a) 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 <ypfserviclub.co> be transferred to the Complainant.

Antonio Millé
Sole Panelist
Date: January 21, 2015