| Google, Inc. v. Fraser , British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre, CIRA Dispute No. 00037 - by Eric Macramalla |
Domain Name: froogle.ca
OutCome: Transfer Granted
Response Filed: Yes
Panellist: Cecil O. D.Branson, Q.C., W.A. Derry Millar, and Denis Sauvé, Chair
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The Respondent was an individual residing in Ontario, Canada, registered the domain name on December 12, 2002 and activated the corresponding site in April 2003.
The Complainant asserted rights in its Canadian trade-mark registrations for FROOGLE and GOOGLE, all registered prior to the Respondent's registration of the disputed domain name.
When contacted by the Complainant, the Registrant offered to sell the domain name for USD $25,000.00.
Under the CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ("CDRP"), a successful Complainant must establish that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar with a mark in which it had rights, that the name was registered in bad faith and that the Registrant does not have a legitimate interest in the domain name.
With respect to confusing similarity, the Panel found the domain name froogle.ca was confusingly similar to the Complainant's mark. Further, the offer to sell the domain name for $25,000.00 constitute evidence of bad faith as per paragraph 3.7(a) that there was bad faith registration. The Panel held that the Registrant had no rights in the mark. The domain name was ordered transferred. |
