WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION

PETITS-FILS v. Domain Admin, Hush WhoIs Protection Ltd.

Case No. D2021-1235

1. The Parties

The Complainant is PETITS-FILS, France, represented by AARPI Scan Avocats, France.

The Respondent is Domain Admin, Hush WhoIs Protection Ltd., Seychelles.

2. The Domain Name and Registrar

The disputed domain name <petit-fils.com> is registered with Key-Systems GmbH (the “Registrar”).

3. Procedural History

The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on April 21, 2021. On April 22, 2021, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On April 23, 2021, 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 28, 2021. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was May 18, 2021. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent’s default on May 21, 2021.

The Center appointed Edoardo Fano as the sole panelist in this matter on June 4, 2021. 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.

Having reviewed the communication records in the case file provided by the Center, the Panel finds that the Center has discharged its responsibility under the Rules, paragraph 2(a), “to employ reasonably available means calculated to achieve actual notice to the Respondent”. Therefore, the Panel shall issue its Decision based upon the Complaint, the Policy, the Rules and the Supplemental Rules and without the benefit of a response from the Respondent.

The language of the proceeding is English, being the language of the Registration Agreement, as per paragraph 11(a) of the Rules.

4. Factual Background

The Complainant is PETITS-FILS, a French company providing personal care and support services for elderly and disabled people and owning several trademark registrations for PETITS-FILS, among which:

- French Trademark Registration No. 3486433 for PETITS-FILS SERVICES AUX GRANDS-PARENTS and design, registered on March 5, 2007;

- French Trademark Registration No. 3875806 for PETITS-FILS, registered on November 22, 2011.

The Complainant’s company name “PETITS-FILS” was registered in France on March 12, 2007.

The Complainant also operates on the Internet at the websites “www.petits-fils.com” and “www.petitsfils.com”, both registered on March 2, 2007, and at the websites “www.petits-fils.fr” and “www.petitsfils.fr”, both registered on March 5, 2007.

The Complainant provided evidence in support of the above.

According to the WhoIs records, the disputed domain name was registered on June 14, 2007, and redirects to a parking page with sponsored links to different websites, some of them providing the same services as the Complainant in the French language.

5. Parties’ Contentions

A. Complainants

The Complainant states that the disputed domain name <petit-fils.com> is confusingly similar to its trademark PETITS-FILS, as the disputed domain name wholly incorporates the Complainant’s trademark, with the sole deletion of the letter “s” at the end of the word “petits”, and therefore consists of a typo-squatting of the Complainant’s trademark.

Moreover, the Complainant asserts that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name since it has not been authorized by the Complainant to register the disputed domain name or to use its trademark within the disputed domain name, it is not commonly known by the disputed domain name, nor is it making a bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name.

The Complainant submits that the Respondent has registered the disputed domain name in bad faith, since the latter was registered a few weeks after the Complainant registered its company name, trademark and domain name and started its business activity. Therefore, the Respondent targeted the Complainant’s trademark at the time of registration of the disputed domain name and the Complainant contends that the passive holding of the typo-squatted, disputed domain name, the advertising links in the French language to websites in relation with the Complainant’s activities and the fact the disputed domain name is on sale for a price in excess of the out-of-pocket costs directly related to the disputed domain name are all elements demonstrating the Respondent’s bad faith registration and use of the disputed domain name.

B. Respondent

The Respondent has made no reply to the Complainant’s contentions and is in default. In reference to paragraphs 5(f) and 14 of the Rules, no exceptional circumstances explaining the default have been put forward or are apparent from the record.

A respondent is not obliged to participate in a proceeding under the Policy, but if it fails to do so, reasonable facts asserted by a complainant may be taken as true, and appropriate inferences, in accordance with paragraph 14(b) of the Rules, may be drawn (see, e.g., Reuters Limited v. Global Net 2000, Inc., WIPO Case No. D2000-0441; Microsoft Corporation v. Freak Films Oy, WIPO Case No. D2003-0109; SSL INTERNATIONAL PLC v. MARK FREEMAN, WIPO Case No. D2000-1080; ALTAVISTA COMPANY v. GRANDTOTAL FINANCES LIMITED et. al., WIPO Case No. D2000-0848; and Confédération Nationale du Crédit Mutuel, Caisse Fédérale du Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe v. Marketing Total S.A., WIPO Case No. D2007-0288).

6. Discussion and Findings

Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy lists three elements, which the Complainant must satisfy in order to succeed:

(i) the disputed 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 disputed domain name; and

(iii) the disputed domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

A. Identical or Confusingly Similar

The Panel finds that the Complainant is the owner of the trademark PETITS-FILS both by registration and acquired reputation and that the disputed domain name <petit-fils.com> is confusingly similar to the trademark PETITS-FILS.

Regarding the deletion of the letter “s” at the end of the word “petits”, making the latter singular instead of plural, the Panel notes that this is a typical case of a deliberate misspelling of a mark (so-called “typo-squatting”), by adding, deleting, substituting or reversing the order of letters in a mark, where numerous UDRP panels in the past have found confusing similarity to be present: see, inter alia, Yurtici Kargo Servisi A.S. v. Yurticicargo Yurticikargo, WIPO Case No. D2003-0707; CareerBuilder, LLC v. Azra Khan, WIPO Case No. D2003-0493; The Sportsman’s Guide, Inc. v. Vipercom, WIPO Case No. D2003-0145; Neuberger Berman Inc. v. Alfred Jacobsen, WIPO Case No. D2000-0323. The deletion of the letter “s” at the end of the word “petits” does not therefore prevent the disputed domain name from being confusingly similar to the Complainant’s trademark, which is clearly recognizable in the disputed domain name, and can be considered as a case of typo-squatting.

It is also well accepted that a generic Top-Level Domain (“gTLD”), in this case “.com”, may be ignored when assessing the confusing similarity between a trademark and a domain name (see WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Third Edition (“WIPO Overview 3.0”), section 1.11).

The Panel finds that the Complainant has therefore met its burden of proving that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s trademark, pursuant to the Policy, paragraph 4(a)(i).

B. Rights or Legitimate Interests

The Respondent has failed to file a response in accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5.

The Complainant in its Complaint, and as set out above, has established a prima facie case that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. It asserts that the Respondent, who is not associated with the Complainant in any way nor is commonly known by the disputed domain name, is not using the disputed domain name for a legitimate noncommercial or fair use or in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services.

The prima facie case presented by the Complainant is enough to shift the burden of production to the Respondent to demonstrate that it has rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. However, the Respondent has not presented any evidence of any rights or legitimate interests it may have in the disputed domain name, and the Panel is unable to establish any such rights or legitimate interests on the basis of the evidence in front of it.

The Panel notes that words “petit-fils” means “grandsons” in French. However, panels have recognized that merely registering a domain name comprised of a dictionary word does not by itself automatically confer rights or legitimate interests on the respondent. In this case, the disputed domain name is not used in connection with the relied-upon dictionary meaning but it resolves to a pay per click parking page with links to the Complainant and competitors. See section 2.10.1 of the WIPO Overview 3.0.

The Panel therefore finds that paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the Policy has been satisfied.

C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith

Paragraph 4(b) of the Policy provides that “[…] for the purposes of paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy, 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 the Complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of its documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or

(ii) that [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) that [the Respondent has] registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or

(iv) that 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”.

Regarding the registration in bad faith of the disputed domain name, the latter was registered only a few weeks after the Complainant’s company name “PETITS-FILS” was registered and published, and the Complainant started its business activity under the domain names <petits-fils.com> and <petitsfils.com>. ,. Furthermore, the Panel notes that the French trademark PETITS-FILS SERVICES AUX GRANDS-PARENTS was registered and published before the disputed domain name. In view of all these elements, the Panel finds that the Respondent knew of the Complainant when he registered the disputed domain name.

As regards the use in bad faith of the disputed domain name, pointing to a parking page, the Panel considers that bad faith may exist even in cases of so-called “passive holding”, as found in the landmark UDRP decision Telstra Corporation Limited v. Nuclear Marshmallows, WIPO Case No. D2000-0003. In the circumstances of this case, the Panel finds that such passive holding amounts to bad faith.

In fact, the Panel finds that the disputed domain name is also used in bad faith since in the relevant website there are pay-per-click links, even in the case where they are automatically generated, mainly referring to the same services as the Complainant, in the French language, and the Respondent is therefore knowingly taking advantage from user confusion (see WIPO Overview 3.0, sections 2.9, 3.5 and 3.2.3).

The above suggests to the Panel that the Respondent intentionally registered and is using the disputed domain name in order to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to its website in accordance with paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy.

The Panel finally finds the Respondent’s offer to sell the disputed domain name for a price between USD 24,653 and USD 29,599 to be further evidence of bad faith within the meaning of paragraph 4(b)(i) of the Policy.

The Panel finds that the Complainant has presented evidence to satisfy its burden of proof with respect to the issue of whether the Respondent has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith.

The Panel therefore finds that paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy has been satisfied.

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 <petit-fils.com> be transferred to the Complainant.

Edoardo Fano
Sole Panelist
Date: June 7, 2021