{ "case_number": "CAC-UDRP-105507", "time_of_filling": "2023-06-12 11:24:46", "domain_names": [ "liverpoolfclegends.com" ], "case_administrator": "Olga Dvořáková (Case admin)", "complainant": [ "The Liverpool Football Club and Athletics Grounds Limited" ], "complainant_representative": "Stobbs IP", "respondent": [ "Lin Ming Zhao " ], "respondent_representative": null, "factual_background": "

The Complainant is a professional football club based in Liverpool, United Kingdom. The club was founded in 1888 and is now one of the most widely supported football clubs in the world. It had established itself as a major force in English and European football in the 1970s and 1980s. During these years, it secured eleven League titles and four European Cups. The club won two further European Cups in 2005 and 2019, the latter leading the club to a nineteenth League title in 2020, the club's first during the Premier League era.<\/p>\n

The Complainant jointly owns the company LiverpoolFC.TV Ltd alongside Granada Media plc, who are the largest company in the United Kingdom within the commercial television sector, and who have been licensed by the Complainant to utilise the Complainant’s trade marks and brand online since the early 2000s. <\/span>The domain name <liverpoolfc.tv> had been used for the purposes of a website at www.liverpoolfc.tv since as early as 2000, serving as the official website for the Complainant at the time, and which provides news, statistics and other information on the club, as well as selling match tickets and club merchandise. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2002, the Complainant began to utilise the domain name <liverpoolfc.com> as its primary website for the club, initially as a redirect to www.liverpoolfc.tv, and then as a website at www.liverpoolfc.com in its own right. Based on website traffic analysis made available for period April 2021 – September 2021, www.liverpoolfc.com generates an average 7.8 million visitors every month, from various locations worldwide, and almost half of all visits originating from United Kingdom based internet users. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Complainant’s business and brand has partnered and collaborated with a variety of household names over the years, which include: Standard Chartered, Nike, Axa, Expedia, Carlsberg, EA Sports and Cadbury. <\/p>\n

The Complainant’s brand has a variety of revenue streams. In 2018\/2019, the club earned approximately 299.3 million euros from broadcasting. The commercial revenue stream is the second largest, amounting to 210.9 million euro in 2018\/2019, and 243.4 million in 2019\/2020, and includes revenue generated from the sale of sport clothing and other branded merchandise. These goods are predominantly being offered and sold via the Complainant’s main website at www.liverpoolfc.com and via other authorised merchants and online outlets. <\/span><\/p>\n

The disputed domain name <\/span><liverpoolfclegends.com> was registered on 13 June 2022.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/p>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/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 name.<\/p>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/p>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/p>", "no_response_filed": "

The Complainant submits that the requirements of the Policy have been met and that the disputed domain name should be transferred to it. The Complainant makes a number of legal arguments (referenced below) and also supplies a set of annexes providing evidence of its activities and of the Respondent's use of the disputed domain names. <\/p>\n

\n

No administratively compliant Response has been filed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/p>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/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>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/p>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/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>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/p>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/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>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/p>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/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

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/p>\n

<\/quillbot-extension-portal><\/p>", "decision": "Accepted", "panelists": [ "Udo Pfleghar B.A. (Melb.)" ], "date_of_panel_decision": "2023-07-21 00:00:00", "informal_english_translation": "

The Complainant is the proprietor of numerous domain name registrations and trademark registrations including the terms Liverpool, Football Club, or FC, such as e.g.:<\/p>\n