FACTS ASSERTED BY THE COMPLAINANT AND NOT CONTESTED BY THE RESPONDENT:
The Complainant
The Complainant, Hapag-Lloyd UK Limited (Hapag-Lloyd) is a subsidiary of Hapag-Lloyd AG. Hapag-Lloyd AG is based in Hamburg and has origins dating back to 1847.
The ultimate owners of Hapag-Lloyd AG and its subsidiaries are the Albert Ballin consortium (77.96%, consisting of the City of Hamburg, Kühne Maritime, Signal Iduna, HSH Nordbank, M.M.Warburg Bank and HanseMerkur) and the TUI AG (22.04%).
Hapag-Lloyd AG and its subsidiaries are a leading global liner shipping company which operates from 300 locations in 114 different countries, worldwide.
Hapag-Lloyd was incorporated in England and Wales on 15 January 1936 with company number 00309325.
Reputation
Given the size and the history surrounding Hapag-Lloyd, it is a thoroughly established company and extremely well known throughout the world as a trusted and reputable business.
The Complainant claims that over the years, Hapag-Lloyd AG and its subsidiaries have received numerous awards.
The Complainant contends that "Hapag-Lloyd.Com" was registered by the owners of Hapag-Lloyd on 08 August 1996. "safetrade-hapaglloyd.com" (the disputed domain name) was registered on 18 April 2015 by the Respondent.
It is inconceivable that at the time of registration, the Respondent did not know of the similarity between the disputed domain name and Hapag-Lloyd's CTM and domain name as the disputed domain name is extremely similar to the CTM (identical save for the omission of a hyphen).
In fact according to the Complainant, it is evident that the Respondent purposefully used Hapag-Lloyd's CTM to create the impression that the disputed domain name was owned by or at least associated with Hapag-Lloyd.
The Respondent seeks to trick users into thinking that Hapag-Lloyd is associated with the disputed domain name.
Furthermore, the Complainant claims it is clear that the Respondent's intention is to use the disputed domain name to run a website pretending to be the Complainant and thereby to encourage users to purchase services from the Respondent as they believe that a well-known, reputable, business will execute those services.
The disputed domain name is part of an ongoing fraud in relation to which the Complainant has already made several successful complaints.
To reiterate, Hapag-Lloyd has nothing to do with the disputed domain name or the Respondent. The Respondent has no legitimate interest in the disputed domain name and the Complainant believes that the intention of the Respondent is to use the disputed domain name to defraud users into purchasing products that will never be delivered.
Finally, the Complainant claims the disputed domain name was registered in bad faith as the sole purpose for its registration was and is to trick users into believing that the disputed domain name is owned by or associated with a reputable company i.e. Hapag-Lloyd.
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