Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy requires the Complainant to prove each of the following three elements:
(i) The disputed domain names are identical or confusingly similar to a trade mark or service mark in which the Complaint has rights.
(ii) The Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain names.
(iii) The domain names have been registered and used in bad faith.
A. Rights
The Panel is satisfied that the Complainant is the owner of trade mark registrations for the mark “DAFA”.
It is well established that the generic top level suffix, .com may be disregarded when considering whether a disputed domain name is confusingly similar to a trade mark in which the Complainant has rights.
With regards to the disputed domain names: dafa0808.com; dafa6969.com; dafa8989.com; dafa9998.com; dafa5558.com; dafa6668.com; and dafa7778.com; the Respondent has simply incorporated the distinctive trade mark “DAFA” and has added numbers to it. In the circumstances the Panel finds that the disputed domain names: dafa0808.com; dafa6969.com; dafa8989.com; dafa9998.com; dafa5558.com; dafa6668.com; and dafa7778.com are confusingly similar to the Complainant’s trade mark “DAFA”.
With regards to the disputed domain names: df0001.com; df8808.com; df8828.com; df8878.com;df88888.com; and df8898.com the Respondent has used in the domain names the letters “d” and “f” that phonetically mimic to the Complainant’s “DAFA” trade mark and added numbers to them. The Panel finds that the disputed domain names df0001.com; df8808.com; df8828.com; df8878.com; df88888.com; and df8898.com are confusingly similar to a trade mark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights.
B. Lack of rights or legitimate interests.
The Panel finds that the Respondent does not have a legal right to use the name “DAFA” as part of the disputed domain names or in a domain name that is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s mark.
The Respondent is not connected with the Complainant, nor authorized to use the Complainant’s intellectual property rights for its operations in any capacity. Further, the Respondent’s use of the Complainant’s graphics, images, designs, content and logos, are indicative of Respondent’s intention to deceive users to think that the websites using the disputed domain names are affiliated with the Complainant.
The Respondent has not filed a Response and there is no evidence that the Respondent has used or has been preparing to use the disputed domain names in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services, or for a legitimate non-commercial or fair use, without intent for commercial gain.
The Panel finds that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interest in the disputed domain names.
C. Registration and use of the disputed domain names in bad faith.
The Complainant owns registrations for the trade mark “DAFA” and "DAFABET" in various jurisdictions. The marks are likely to be well known because of the Complainant’s sponsorship of the English Premier League and the World Snooker Championship.
By using letters that sound like the Complainant’ trade mark, the Respondent appears to be intentionally trying to deceive Internet users into believing that the disputed domain names with the prefix “df” are in some way connected to the Complainant.
Further, the Respondent’s unauthorised use of the Complainant’s logos, images and designs on its website, are indicative of the Respondent’s intention to make it appear that its websites are affiliated with the Complainant.
There appears no reason why the Respondent would register and use the disputed domain names that incorporate, or are confusingly similar to, the Complainant’s mark “DAFA”, other than to intentionally attempt to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to the Respondent’s websites, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant's mark.
The Panel finds that the disputed domain names dafa0808.com; dafa6969.com; dafa8989.com; dafa9998.com; dafa5558.com; dafa6668.com; dafa7778.com; df0001.com; df8808.com; df8828.com; df8878.com;df88888.com; and df8898.com, have been registered and have been used by the Respondent in bad faith.
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