The Complainant is Realm Entertainment Limited of Ta’Xbiex, Malta, represented by Domain and Intellectual Property Consultants, DIPCON AB, Sweden.
The Respondent is Domains By Proxy, LLC of Scottsdale, Arizona, United States of America / Engin Talih of San Gwann, Malta.
The disputed domain name <www13bets10.com> (the “Domain Name”) is registered with GoDaddy.com, LLC (the “Registrar”).
The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on October 19, 2015. On October 19, 2015, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the Domain Name. On October 20, 2015, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response disclosing registrant and contact information for the Domain Name which differed from the named Respondent and contact information in the Complaint. The Center sent an email communication to the Complainant on October 22, 2015, 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 October 26, 2015.
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 and 4, the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on October 29, 2015. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was November 18, 2015. The Respondent sent an email communication to the Center on October 29, 2015, but did not submit any response.
Accordingly, the Center notified the Parties of the commencement of Panel Appointment Process on November 20, 2015.
The Center appointed Ian Lowe as the sole panelist in this matter on December 3, 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.
The Complainant is a Maltese company running a well-known game website at “www.bet10.com” offering a wide range of online gambling products and games. The domain name <bet10.com> was registered by the Complainant on September 14, 2009 and the website had almost 50 million page views in the period between May 1, 2015 and shortly before the filing of the Complaint.
The Complainant is the registered proprietor of Community trademark No. 009941139 BETS10 registered as of May 4, 2011, and Community trademark No. 012403713 BETS10 and device registered as of December 9, 2013.
The Domain Name was registered on September 19, 2015 and resolves to a web page at “http://tumcasino.net”. Tüm Casino is a Turkish online casino website offering similar services to those of the Complainant.
The Complainant contends that the Domain Name is confusingly similar to its BETS10 trademarks, that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name and that the Respondent registered and is using the Domain Name in bad faith within the meaning of paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy.
The Respondent sent an email to the Center on October 29, 2015 stating “Thank you for your email. I will contact with my lawyer and try to make my defense ready until November 18, 2015.” No further submission was received from the Respondent.
According to paragraph 4(a) of the Policy, for this Complaint to succeed in relation to the Domain Name the Complainant must prove that:
(i) the Domain Name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights; and
(ii) the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name; and
(iii) the Domain Name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
The Panel accepts that the Complainant has uncontested rights in respect of the BETS10 mark through established use for a number of years and by virtue of its registered Community trademarks. Ignoring the “.com” suffix for the purpose of assessing the similarity of the Domain Name, the Domain Name comprises the entirety of the Complainant’s mark together with “www” and “13”. The addition of “www” to a domain name is a well-known practice of typosquatters looking to take advantage of Internet users who omit to add a full stop after “www” when entering a website address and can therefore be discounted when considering confusing similarity. In the context of online gaming websites, the Panel considers that the addition of a number such as “13” as a prefix is likely to add to confusion and not detract from the distinctiveness of the “bets10” mark.
Accordingly, the Panel is satisfied that the Domain Name is confusingly similar to a mark in which the Complainant has rights.
The Complainant has made out a prima facie case that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name. The Respondent has used the Domain Name to redirect Internet users to a competing, Turkish, gaming website and to a web page prominently carrying the Complainant’s BETS10 logo.
The Panel cannot conceive of any rights or legitimate interests on the part of the Respondent that could entitle it to use the Domain Name in this way and the Respondent has chosen not to respond to the Complaint or to put forward any explanation as to any rights or legitimate interests on its part. It has therefore failed to dispel the prima facie case raised by the Complainant.
In the circumstances, the Panel finds that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name.
On the same basis, the Panel is in no doubt that the Respondent must have had the Complainant and its rights in the BETS10 mark in mind when it registered the Domain Name. The Respondent’s subsequent use of the Domain Name to redirect Internet users to a competing, gaming website amounts to paradigm bad faith registration and use under the Policy.
Accordingly, the Panel finds that the Domain Name was registered and is being used in bad faith.
For the foregoing reasons, in accordance with paragraphs 4(i) of the Policy and 15 of the Rules, the Panel orders that the Domain Name, <www13bets10>, be transferred to the Complainant.
Ian Lowe
Sole Panelist
Date: December 18, 2015