Vanguard Trademark Holdings USA LLC ("Complainant"), is the owner of the ALAMO mark which it licenses to Alamo Rent A Car (“Alamo”). Started in 1974, Alamo is a value-oriented, internationally recognized brand serving the daily vehicle rental needs of the airport traveler throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific Rim. Alamo is the largest rent a car provider to international travelers visiting North America. Alamo operates an online vehicle rental site at <alamo.com> that offers vehicle rentals at all Alamo locations throughout the world. Anyone with internet access anywhere in the world can access the Alamo web site to make arrangements to rent a car from any Alamo location throughout the world.
In the Complainant’s view the registrations and extensive use of the "ALAMO" mark sufficiently establish its rights in the mark. Furthermore, according to the Complainant statement, the domain name <wedeliveralamo.online> is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s registered "ALAMO" mark since the domain name in dispute fully incorporates the Complainant’s "ALAMO" mark, merely adding the term “wedeliver” that describes a service offered by the same Alamo (the delivery of their rental car) and the generic top level domain identifier “.online.” As per the Complainant's submission the addition of the descriptive term “wedeliver” does not distinguish the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name from the Complainant’s "ALAMO" mark.
In the Complainant's view also the Respondent believes that <wedeliveralamo.online> is confusingly similar to the "ALAMO" mark since the web page at <wedeliveralamo.online> features links to “Alamo Car Rental” and web sites offering car rental services.
In addition, the Complainant outlines that European Union trademark registration for the "ALAMO" mark was issued in September, 2002, while Complainant’s U.S. registration for "ALAMO" was issued in July, 1978. On the contrary the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name was registered only on October 31, 2016 and, therefore, the Complainant’s registrations of the ALAMO mark pre-date the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name by fourteen and thirty-eight years respectively.
The Complainant also assumes that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name and informs that on April 2017, the web site corresponding to the domain name <wedeliveralamo.online> resolved to a web page with a list of “Related Links” consisting of links to web sites offering car rental services, including those of Complainant’s licensee and its competitors.
The Complainant believes that in light of the long-standing use and registration of the "ALAMO" mark by the Complainant in connection with car rental services, the Respondent cannot have any legitimate rights in the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name in connection with a site that serves merely to drive Internet traffic to web sites offering car rental services, including those of Complainant’s licensee and its competitors.
The Complainant underlines that the WHOIS record lists “Bryan Mayor” as the Registrant for the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name and that neither the WHOIS record nor the web site to which the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name resolves give any indication that Respondent is known as, operating a business as, or advertising as “We Deliver Alamo.” On this record, the Complainant believes that the Respondent has not been commonly known by the contested domain name so as to have acquired rights to or legitimate interests in it.
In particular, according to the Complainant, these facts suggest that the Respondent is not known as or operating as “We Deliver Alamo,” but that the same Respondent is attempting to use the goodwill generated by the "ALAMO" mark to drive Internet traffic to its web site through use of a confusingly similar domain name. This also in consideration of the fact that the Complainant has not licensed or otherwise permitted the Respondent to use its "ALAMO" mark in connection with car rental services or any other goods or services or to apply for any domain name incorporating the "ALAMO" mark.
In the Complianant's view the facts of record clearly support a finding that Respondent both registered and is using the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name in bad faith. Actually, the Respondent has registered and is using a domain name that merely adds to Complainant’s "ALAMO" mark a generic wording and a gTLD; such use of the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name for a web site that attempts to attract Internet users to the Respondent’s web page evidences a clear intent to trade upon the goodwill associated with Complainant’s "ALAMO" mark for car rental services.
In other words the Complianant's believes that the Respondent is deliberately using a domain name that is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s mark to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to its web site, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant’s mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement of its web sites and the services offered at such web sites.
In summary, according to the Complainant assertions:
a) it cannot be disputed that the Complainant has longstanding and well-recognized rights and goodwill in its "ALAMO" mark in connection with car rental services;
b) the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s "ALAMO" mark;
c) the Respondent has no legitimate rights in the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name;
d) the Respondent has merely registered the <wedeliveralamo.online> domain name to capitalize on the goodwill that the Complainant has in its "ALAMO" mark to drive Internet traffic inappropriately to other web sites for commercial gain.
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