The Panel is satisfied that all procedural requirements under UDRP were met and there is no other reason why it would be inappropriate to provide a decision.
The Complaint was filed in the name of Wal-Mart de México, S.A.B. de C.V. In its Complaint, the Complainant contends that it is part of the WalMart Group, in particular it is a subsidiary of Walmart, Inc. (to be understood as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.). For this scope, the Complainant provided relevant evidence, indicating the significant subsidiaries of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. among which Wal-Mart de México, S.A.B. de C.V. is included. In its Complaint, the Complainant refers also to the company Walmart Apollo, LLC. In particular, the Complainant contends that the WalMart Group holds WALMART trademarks in numerous countries all over the world. For instance, in Mexico the company Walmart Apollo, LLC owns the following trademark registrations: (i) Mexican Wordmark WAL-MART, Reg. No. 577558, registration date May 27, 1998, (ii) Mexican Wordmark WAL-MART, Reg. No.577559, registered on 27.05.1998, (iii) Mexican Wordmark WAL-MART, Reg. No. 596598, registered on December 14, 1998. On this regard the Complainant provided relevant evidence.
Under Paragraph 12 of the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the Rules) “In addition to the complaint and the response, the Panel may request, in its sole discretion, further statements or documents from either of the Parties”.
According to that paragraph 12, the Panel issued a Procedural Order and requested the Complainant: (1) to comment and submit relevant evidence on the following point: Walmart Apollo, LLC. is an affiliate of Wal-Mart de México, S.A.B. de C.V., being a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. or, alternatively, (2) to provide relevant evidence of authorization received by Walmart Apollo, LLC. to file this UDRP Complaint.
The Panel granted the Complainant a term to submit the relevant evidence and comments in response to the Procedural Order. The Complainant submitted a Nonstandard Communication providing a declaration from the duly representative of Walmart Apollo, LLC’s (together with the Power of Attorney where the legal faculties of Walmart Apollo, LLC.’s legal representative were specified) confirming amongst others that: (1) Walmart Apollo, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of WalMart, Inc., part of the Walmart Group (which also results from the submitted Power of Attorney); (2) Walmart Apollo, LLC has authorized WalMart lnc., which in turn has authorized Wal-Mart de México, S.A.B. de C.V. to use the relevant Mexican trademark registration WAL-MART no. 596598; (3) Walmart Apollo, LLC has authorized WalMart lnc., which in turn has authorized Wal-Mart de México, S.A.B. de C.V. to file the appropriate legal actions; including UDRP’s to recover - amongst others- the domain name <walmartdemexico.com>.
The Respondent was also given a term to submit a reply, with a copy of the reply provided to the Complainant. However, the Respondent did not reply within the given time.
|