The Complainant’s contentions can be summarised as follows:<\/p>\n
A. Background history<\/strong><\/p>\n The Complainant was established in 1917 and has become a worldwide renowned luxury brand selling apparel and accessories under the well-known trade mark BALENCIAGA. The Complainant bears the name of its founder and has no dictionary meaning.<\/p>\n The Complainant promotes and offers for sale its products in physical boutiques and online through the website <balenciaga.com>.<\/p>\n By way of relief, the Complainant seeks to obtain the ownership of the disputed domain name <balenciaga-taiwan.com> on the grounds advanced in section B below.<\/p>\n B. Legal grounds<\/strong><\/p>\n I. The disputed domain name is confusingly similar to a trade mark in which the Complainant has rights<\/strong> <\/p>\n The Complainant avers that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s trade mark BALENCIAGA, in so far as the disputed domain name consists of two terms, namely “Balenciaga”, which mimics the Complainant’s trade mark BALENCIAGA, and “Taiwan”, which merely identifies the name of a country.<\/p>\n II. The Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name<\/strong><\/p>\n The Complainant asserts that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name. The Respondent is not affiliated with the Complainant in any way. Neither licence nor authorisation has been given to the Respondent to make any use of the Complainant’s trade mark BALENCIAGA. In addition, the Respondent is not known by the disputed domain name, and the Respondent’s name does not resemble the disputed domain name in any manner.<\/p>\n III. The Respondent registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith<\/strong><\/p>\n The Complainant states that the Respondent knows of the BALENCIAGA trade mark and its products. Furthermore, the Complainant claims that the Respondent’s website was designed to create an appearance of connection with the Complainant, such that the Respondent would have been intentionally using the disputed domain name to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to the Respondent’s website by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of that website (paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the UDRP Policy).<\/p>\n The Complainant therefore concludes that the Respondent has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith.<\/p>",
"other_legal_proceedings": " The Panel is unaware of any other pending or decided legal proceedings in respect of the domain name <balenciaga-taiwan.com> (“the disputed domain name”).<\/p>",
"no_response_filed": " The Respondent has not submitted a Response to the Complaint within the time prescribed under the UDRP Rules, or at all. <\/p>",
"rights": " The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown that the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trade mark in which the Complainant has rights (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(i) of the UDRP Policy).<\/p>",
"no_rights_or_legitimate_interests": " The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the Respondent to have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the UDRP Policy).<\/p>",
"bad_faith": " The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the disputed domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the UDRP Policy).<\/p>",
"procedural_factors": " 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.<\/p>",
"decision": "Accepted",
"panelists": [
"Gustavo Moser"
],
"date_of_panel_decision": "2022-11-03 00:00:00",
"informal_english_translation": " The Complainant relies upon the following registered trade marks, amongst others:<\/p>\n (i) International trade mark registration no. 397506, registered on 13 April 1973, for the word mark BALENCIAGA, in classes 3, 5, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26 and 34 of the Nice Classification;<\/p>\n (ii) Taiwanese trade mark registration no. 139143, registered on 1 September 1980, for the word mark BALENCIAGA, in class 21 of the Nice Classification;<\/p>\n (iii) Taiwanese trade mark registration no. 138976, registered on 1 September 1980, for the word mark BALENCIAGA, in class 25 of the Nice Classification;<\/p>\n (iv) Taiwanese trade mark registration no. 1226055, registered on 1 September 2006, for the word mark BALENCIAGA, in class 18 of the Nice Classification; and<\/p>\n (v) Taiwanese trade mark registration no. 139185, registered on 1 September 1980, for the word mark BALENCIAGA, in class 14 of the Nice Classification.<\/p>\n (hereinafter, collectively or individually, “the Complainant’s trade mark”; “the Complainant’s trade mark BALENCIAGA”; or “the trade mark BALENCIAGA” interchangeably).<\/p>\n At the time of writing, the disputed domain name resolves to an “Access denied” error page (“the Respondent’s website”).<\/p>\n<\/ul>",
"decision_domains": {
"balenciaga-taiwan.com": "TRANSFERRED"
},
"panelist": null,
"panellists_text": null
}