MINGDUN HELPED WORLD’S FINEST OPTICAL FILTER MANUFACTURE WINNING BACK .COM DOMAIN NAME
In December, an arbitration panel in CIETAC, the subsidiary of ADNRDC in China, ruled Hangzhou Keluoma, an optical accessory retailer to transfer domain name chroma-cn.com to Chroma Technology Corp. (Chroma Tech), manufacture of world’s finest optical filter.
A panel of three tried the dispute according to UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) and decided Chroma-cn.com is confusingly similar to trademark ”Chroma” which Chroma Tech owns in China and in countries around the world; Hangzhou Keluoma has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name and has registered and has been using the domain name in “bad faith”.
As an optical filter manufacture well known in the industry located in the United States, Chroma Tech had registered trademark “Chroma” on optical filters and accessories of microscopy equipment in China and worldwide and has been using the trademark in China from early 2000. It comes to Chroma Tech’s attention that Hanghzou Keluoma has registered domain name Chroma-cn.com and has been selling chroma’s optical filters since 2016. Knowing that Hanghzou keluoma is not willing to transfer the domain name voluntarily, Chroma filed a complaint with CIETAC.
Mingdun prepared and submitted comprehensive evidence on Hangzhou Keluoma’s lacking rights and legitimate interests and “bad faith” in registering and using the domain name in dispute, as well as powerful rebuttal to Keluoma’s argument of good faith. Specifically, Mingdun argued Hangzhou Keluoma’s lacking rights and legitimate interests by submitting that “Chroma” is neither a phonetic translation of name of the company nor name of any board members; and argued “bad faith” by submitting evidence to show that “Chroma” has long been known in relevant field such as optical accessories and equipment and tightly connected with Chroma Tech whereas Hangzhou Keluoma has been using the “Chroma” trademark on the website linked to the domain name in dispute to attract desired internet traffic for financial gain.
Based on Mingdun’s allegations the panel ruled in favor of Chroma Tech on following rationales: 1) the essential portion of the domain name “Chroma-cn” is confusingly similar to Chroma Tech’s valid trademark “Chroma”; 2) Hangzhou Keluoma failed to proof it has rights or legitimate interests on the domain name; and 3) registration and use of the domain name is in “bad faith” because Chroma is not the phonetic translation of Hangzhou Keluoma and the domain name in dispute has been used to create likelihood of confusion and attract desired internet traffic for financial gain.
It is always important to proof bad faith in domain name disputes. Bad faith can be proofed from several aspects, create likelihood of confusion and attract desired internet traffic for financial gain can be good a choice if complainant is also doing business in the same intended market.
When resolving domain disputes, there are various approaches or courses of action that can be followed to get the registrant of a domain name to transfer it to you. The most suitable approach always depends on the specific circumstances of each domain.
Mingdun always considers the factual circumstances in the context of the applicable law. If you would like to know what is the best approach for the domain name you want, we can provide you with an opinion.