The Complainant is Fresh Minds Limited of London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ("United Kingdom"), represented by Wildbore & Gibbons, United Kingdom.
The Respondent is Fresh Minds of Wales, United Kingdom.
The disputed domain name <freshmindsrecruitment.com> (the "Domain Name") is registered with OnlineNic, Inc. d/b/a China-Channel.com (the "Registrar").
The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the "Center") on April 11, 2016. On April 12, 2016, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the Domain Name. On April 13, 2016, 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 April 13, 2016. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was May 3, 2016. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent's default on May 4, 2016.
The Center appointed Ian Lowe as the sole panelist in this matter on May 13, 2016. 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 research and recruitment consultancy founded in London, United Kingdom in 2000. It is the registered proprietor of a number of trademarks comprising FRESH MINDS, including United Kingdom trademark number 2274596 registered as of July 6, 2001 in respect of a range of services including business consultancy and employment agency services, and European Union trademark number 6013049 FRESHMINDS registered on July 31, 2008, again in respect of services including business consultancy, employment agency services and personnel recruitment.
The Domain Name was registered on February 14, 2016. According to the publicly available WhoIs record, the address of the registrant is 54 Blades Road, Wales 06768, GB. The address does not exist. The United Kingdom, including Wales, does not use postal codes in the format "06768". The stated telephone number for the registrant, namely +44 510658894 is not in service.
On March 3, 2016, the Domain Name resolved to a website purporting to be that of "FreshMinds Recruitment Limited", promoting its business in HR consultation, Executive Search and related services and listing a number of available job positions in a range of industries including oil and gas. Emails have been sent in the name of FreshMinds Recruitment Limited, with an address in the same area of London as the Complainant, using and/or citing the email address "info@freshmindsrecruitment.com" to promote fictitious job vacancies, phishing for prospective candidates to submit detailed CVs comprising personal information.
The Complainant contends that the Domain Name is confusingly similar to its FRESH MINDS 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 did not reply to the Complainant's contentions.
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 Complainant has uncontested rights in the trademark FRESH MINDS, both by virtue of its several trademark registrations and as a result of its goodwill and reputation acquired through use of the FRESH MINDS mark over several years. Ignoring the generic Top-Level Domain ("gTLD") ".com", the Domain Name comprises the Complainant's mark together with the word "recruitment". In the Panel's view, the additional word does not detract from the distinctiveness of the FRESH MINDS mark. On the contrary, since the Complainant provides recruitment services, this reinforces the likelihood of confusion with the Complainant's mark. Accordingly, the Panel finds that the Domain Name is confusingly similar to a mark in which the Complainant has rights.
The Complainant has submitted strong prima facie evidence that the Respondent can have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name. It has provided evidence that the Respondent is using the Domain Name as a phishing website and to send phishing emails seeking to gather personal information on aspiring job candidates by putting forward fictitious vacancies. By using a name confusingly similar to that of the Complainant and an address similar to that of the Complainant the Respondent has misled potential candidates into believing that they were dealing with the Complainant.
The Respondent has chosen not to respond to the Complaint and has accordingly failed to counter the prima facie case established by the Complainant. In the circumstances, the Panel finds that the Respondent does not have any rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name.
The Panel considers that there is no doubt that the Respondent had the Complainant in mind when it registered the Domain Name and that it did so with the intention of using the Domain Name to deceive Internet users into believing that it was registered by or associated with the Complainant and that the website to which it resolves was operated by the Complainant, all with a view to commercial gain through unlawful phishing. The Respondent registered the Domain Name using false contact details. This amounts to paradigm bad faith registration and use for the purposes of paragraph 4(a) of the Policy. In the circumstances, 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, <freshmindsrecruitment.com>, be transferred to the Complainant.
Ian Lowe
Sole Panelist
Date: May 30, 2016