The Complainant, Arla Foods, is a big dairy company and a cooperative owned by more than 12,500 dairy farmers, which was established in 2000 by a merger and operates worldwide.<\/p>\n
The Complainant holds several trademark registrations for “ARLA” and “ARLA FOODS” going back to 2000 and the Complainant also holds the domain names bearing “ARLA” and “ARLA FOODS” registered even before 2000.<\/p>\n
On June 14, 2022; the Respondent registered the disputed domain names <arlatrading.com> and <arlatrading.xyz>. The disputed domain names are currently inactive and parked.<\/p>", "other_legal_proceedings": "
The Panel is not aware of any other legal proceedings which are pending or decided and which relate to the disputed domain names.<\/p>", "no_response_filed": "
COMPLAINANT:<\/p>\n
The Complainant requests the Panel to exercise its discretion and allow the language of the proceeding to be English based on the following reasons:<\/span><\/p>\n The disputed domain names are confusingly similar to the Complainant’s formerly registered distinctive trademarks, as they bear the Complainant’s “ARLA” trademark as a whole with the addition of the descriptive term “trading”, which would not prevent a finding of confusing similarity.<\/p>\n The Complainant refers to earlier decisions and claims that the top level domains “.com” and “.xyz” are standard registration requirements <\/span>and will be disregarded, so the domain names remain confusingly similar despite their inclusion.<\/p>\n The Complainant states that the Respondent has no rights on the disputed domain names as the Respondent is not known as the disputed domain names and as the Respondent does not hold any trademark or domain name with “ARLA”.<\/p>\n The Complainant also states that the Respondent is neither affiliated nor authorized by the Complainant in any way and neither license nor authorization has been granted to the Respondent to use the Complainant’s trademarks “ARLA”.<\/p>\n The Complainant argues that the Respondent is not using the disputed domain names in connection with bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate non-commercial or fair use.<\/p>\n In addition, the Complainant states that it tried to reach the Respondent by sending cease and desist letter on August 23, 2022 at the e-mail address as displayed in the WHOIS records. There was no response from the Respondent. At the same time the Complainant claims that it received a response from the Registrar pointing out that the domain names were locked for transfer and advising to proceed with UDRP complaint. The Complainant asserts that it has replied asking to merely forward the letter to the registrant and the Respondent has been granted opportunity to present some compelling arguments that it has rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain names but has failed to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n The Complainant claims that the Respondent registered the disputed domain names many years after the first registrations of the Complainant’s “ARLA” and “ARLA FOODS” trademarks. The Complainant states that “ARLA” is a well-known trademark, as previously held by UDRP panels, and refers to the following cases: Arla Foods Amba v. Fredrik Enghall, WIPO Case No. D2016-1205 and Arla Foods Amba v. Nashan, CAC Case No. 101486. It is claimed that by conducting a simple online search regarding the terms “ARLA TRADING”, the Respondent would have inevitably learned about the Complainant, its trademark and business. <\/p>\n The Complainant asserts that it is inconceivable for the Respondent to be unaware of the existence of the Complainant when he registered the disputed domain names. The fact that the Respondent registered the disputed domain names while knowing about the trademarks of the Complainant constitutes bad faith in registering the disputed domain names. <\/p>\n The Complainant alleges that the disputed domain names have not been using by the Respondent and the passive holding of the disputed domain names demonstrates the bad faith of the Respondent.<\/p>\n The Complainant claims that the well-known trademark “ARLA” being in its entirety along with the descriptive term “trading” in the disputed domain names is very likely to create a likelihood of confusion among Internet users who seek for products or services of the Complainant. <\/p>\n Also, the Complainant states that its attempt to contact the Respondent and his lack of response infers bad faith, as well as the Respondent’s identity not being disclosed publicly in WHOIS.<\/p>\n Accordingly, the Complainant alleges that the disputed domain names were registered and are being used in bad faith.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n RESPONDENT:<\/p>\n NO ADMINISTRATIVELY COMPLIANT RESPONSE HAS BEEN FILED. <\/p>",
"rights": " The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the disputed domain names are identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(i) of the 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 names (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the Policy).<\/p>",
"bad_faith": " The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the disputed domain names have been registered and are being used in bad faith (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the 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>\n The Complaint was filed in English but the language of the registration agreement is Turkish. <\/span>Despite the language of the registration agreement being Turkish, the Complainant requested that the language of the proceeding to be English and explained its reasons.<\/p>\n Paragraph 11(a) of the Rules stipulates that: \"[u]nless otherwise agreed by the Parties, or specified otherwise in the Registration Agreement, the language of the administrative proceeding shall be the language of the Registration Agreement, subject to the authority of the Panel to determine otherwise, having regard to the circumstances of the administrative proceeding\".<\/p>\n The Panel has duly considered the circumstances of this case. While there is a language requirement foreseen in paragraph 11(a) of the Rules, the Panel has to find the balance for ensuring that the proceeding takes place with due expedition and for the parties to be treated fairly and given a fair opportunity to present their case under Paragraph 10(b) and (c) of the Rules. The Panel is of the view that the language requirement should not cause any undue burden on the parties or undue delay (see Whirlpool Corporation, Whirlpool Properties, Inc. v. Hui'erpu (HK) electrical appliance co. ltd., <\/em>WIPO Case No. D2008-0293<\/a>; Solvay S.A. v. Hyun-Jun Shin, <\/em>WIPO Case No. D2006-0593<\/a>). <\/em>It has been taken into account that no Response has been filed and there was no counter request from the Respondent, and in any case, English is an internationally common language. Consequently, the Panel believes that the Respondent would not be prejudiced if English is adopted as the language of the proceeding and the request of the Complainant is accepted.<\/p>",
"decision": "Accepted",
"panelists": [
"Mrs Selma Ünlü"
],
"date_of_panel_decision": "2023-02-23 00:00:00",
"informal_english_translation": " The Complainant has submitted evidence, which the Panel accepts, showing that it is the registered owner of the trademarks bearing “ARLA”, inter alia<\/em>, the following:<\/p>\n Moreover, the Complainant is also the owner of the domain names bearing the signs “ARLA” and “ARLA FOODS” such as the domain names <arla.com> (registered on July 15, 1996), <arla.eu> (registered on June 1, 2006), <arlafoods.com>, <arlafoods.co.uk> (registered on October 1, 1999) and <arlafoods.ca> (registered on November 29, 2000).<\/p>",
"decision_domains": {
"arlatrading.com": "TRANSFERRED",
"arlatrading.xyz": "TRANSFERRED"
},
"panelist": null,
"panellists_text": null
}\n
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