The Complainant is a UK based designer, importer, seller and exporter of ladies', men's and children's footwear. In particular, the Complainant owns the internationally famous GOLA trademark, which has very successfully applied to its range of footwear and bag designs. The Complainant's footwear and bag products are sold throughout the world, including through its various websites registered under domain names such as gola.co.uk and golausa.com. Customers in the UK, EU and US are able to purchase the Complainant's products through the above mentioned websites.<\/p>\n
The Complainant notes that the domain names in dispute are (1) golashoesindia.com (2), golashoesusa.com and (3) golatrainersireland.com (3) and that they were registered on June 28, 2022, July 5, 2022, and January 5, 2023 respectively. <\/p>\n
According to the Complainant all the domain names in dispute are linked and have been registered by the same respondent especially because said domain names a) follow the same format (the GOLA mark followed by \"shoes\" or \"trainers\" and country name), b) were registered at similar times and c) were registered by the same registrar.<\/p>\n
In addition, the Complainant infers that the domain names in dispute are confusingly similar to the GOLA trademark since they entirely include the Complainant's trademark.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the Complainant informs that the domain names in dispute are not connected with nor authorized by the Complainant. In particular the Complainant has never authorized or permitted to the Respondent to use the mark GOLA in its domain names. The Complainant believes that the Respondent has no legitimate interests in the domain names in dispute as it is most likely they are used to defraud third parties. <\/p>\n
Finally, the Complainant assumes that the domain names in dispute were registered in bad faith as the sole purpose for the registration was and is to impersonate the Complainant for fraudulent purposes. The Respondent’s impersonation of the Complainant is designed to deceive third parties into believing that the domain names in dispute are owned by the Complainant and are offering legitimate products, when in fact the Respondent is instead defrauding consumers.<\/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´s contentions are summarised above.<\/p>\n
NO ADMINISTRATIVELY COMPLIANT RESPONSE HAS BEEN FILED<\/p>", "rights": "
The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the disputed domain name is 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 name (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 name has been registered and is 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>", "decision": "Accepted", "panelists": [ "Guido Maffei" ], "date_of_panel_decision": "2023-05-23 00:00:00", "informal_english_translation": "
The Complainant owns, between others, the following registered trademarks:<\/p>\n
1) UK Registration GOLA no. 1097140 - registered on June 1978 and duly renewed for class 18.<\/p>\n
2) UK Registration GOLA no. 272980 - registered on May 22, 1905 and duly renewed for class 25.<\/p>\n
3) EU Registration for GOLA no. 1909936 - registered on March 22, 2002 and duly renewed for classes 18, 25 and 28.<\/p>\n
4) EU Registration for GOLA no. 3399681 - registered on April 17, 2008 and duly renewed for classes 5, 10, 12 and 35.<\/p>\n
5) EU Registration for GOLA (stylised) no. 11567625 - registered on July 4, 2013 and duly renewed for classes 18, 25 and 35<\/p>", "decision_domains": { "golashoesusa.com": "TRANSFERRED", "golashoesindia.com": "TRANSFERRED", "golatrainersireland.com": "TRANSFERRED" }, "panelist": null, "panellists_text": null }