{ "case_number": "CAC-UDRP-105627", "time_of_filling": "2023-07-13 08:56:04", "domain_names": [ "adeccojobs.com" ], "case_administrator": " Iveta Špiclová (Czech Arbitration Court) (Case admin)", "complainant": [ "Adecco Group AG " ], "complainant_representative": "BRANDIT GmbH", "respondent": [ "Domain Admin (Hong Kong Domain)" ], "respondent_representative": null, "factual_background": "

The Complainant is a prominent workforce solutions company based in Switzerland which handles general recruitment through to specialist industry placements and a wide range of other employment services. It operates world-wide. The Complainant is the owner of the trademark ADECCO which is registered in jurisdictions all over the world. It also has an online presence via its official websites including www.adecco.com and social media platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Complainant has become aware that the Respondent has wrongly copied its ADECCO trademarks by registering and using the disputed domain name <adeccojobs.com> which reflects the ADECCO trademark and adds the word “jobs”, which invokes the principal activity of the Complainant, namely employment services. The Respondent has caused that domain name to resolve to a “Pay-Per-Click” page on the internet which presumably generates income for the Respondent when internet users click on the links displayed on the page. The Respondent has gone so far in this activity as to refer on its site to some advertised positions as “ADECCO Jobs.” The Complainant has become concerned that as well as this activity probably producing illegal income for the Respondent by using the Complainant’s name and trademark, it also generates confusion among internet users as to whether the content of the Respondent’s webpage is official and legitimate content provided by the Complainant or not.<\/p>\n

The Complainant has registered its objection to this conduct by a cease-and-desist letter to which the Respondent has not replied. Hence the Complainant has brought this proceeding to have the disputed domain name transferred to itself so that an end can be brought to the Respondent’s misleading and damaging conduct.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>", "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.<\/span><\/p>", "no_response_filed": "

COMPLAINANT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Complainant is a prominent company engaged in the business of job placements and the provision of related services. It is the owner of the ADECCO trademark which is registered in many jurisdictions throughout the world, including in Hong Kong, which is <\/span>apparently the domicile of the Respondent. It also has a prominent online presence via its official websites and social media platforms.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Respondent registered the domain name <adeccojobs.com> (“the disputed domain name”) on November 20, 1997. The domain name includes the Complainant’s prominent and well-known trademark ADECCO and the word “jobs”. Thus, the Respondent has registered a <\/span>domain name which includes a prominent trademark and an activity, namely “jobs”, which is the main activity of the trademark owner’s business.<\/span><\/p>\n

The domain name is confusingly similar to the ADECCO trademark because it includes the trademark itself and the principal activity for which it is used, namely the provision of information and other services about jobs.   <\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, several of the Complainant’s trademarks for ADECCO were registered prior to the date on which the Respondent registered the disputed domain name. Indeed, when the domain name was <\/span>registered on November 20, 1997, it was a year after one of the earliest registrations of the ADECCO trademark.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Respondent has no rights and legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That is because the Complainant has never given the Respondent permission or authority to register or use the domain name or to use the ADECCO mark in any way. The <\/span>Respondent’s intention was clearly to refer to the Complainant and its trademark and business activity and to impersonate the Complainant and suggest that it has the Complainant's sponsorship or endorsement, which it does not.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name. It also does not appear to own any registered trademark or have any other right to use the ADECCO name. Nor does any other party appear to have any trademark interests in the term <\/span><adeccojobs.com> or any similar term.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Respondent has caused the domain name to resolve to a “Pay-Per-Click” page where the sponsored links clearly refer to the Complainant and its business activities, such as “Adecco jobs” and presumably for financial reward. This is done by creating the likelihood of confusion with the Complainant’s ADECCO trademark as to the legitimacy and genuineness of the Respondent’s “Pay-Per-Click” page.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the Respondent has used a privacy shield service to mask its identity on the public WHOIS register and has acted in a deceptive manner to give the false impression that it is the <\/span>Complainant or has been authorised by the Complainant to register and use the domain name.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of the foregoing considerations show that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.<\/span><\/p>\n

The disputed domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With respect to Registration in bad faith, the Respondent registered the domain name on November 20, 1997, a year after one of the earliest registrations by the Complainant of the ADECCO mark. By that time, the Complainant was well-established and commercially very active and for that reason the Respondent must have been aware of the Complainant by the time it registered the domain name.<\/p>\n

The domain name blatantly incorporates the Complainant’s well-known trademark and its principal activity, namely the provision of services relating to jobs. Thus. it is clear that the Respondent was directly targeting the Complainant.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With respect to bad faith use, the domain name resolves to the “Pay-Per-Click” page, presumably to the financial benefit of the Respondent. Thus, the Respondent has used the <\/span>domain name to generate confusion among internet users as to the legitimacy of the “Pay-Per-Click” page, and in doing so simply relies on the goodwill of the Complainant and its <\/span>good name and the guesswork of internet users as to whether they have arrived at a legitimate online site of the Complainant or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, the Respondent has ignored a cease-and-desist letter from the Complainant calling on it to stop its misleading and improper conduct. The use by the Respondent of a privacy shield to conceal its identity also indicates bad faith.<\/p>\n

The entire conduct of the Respondent with respect to the use of the domain name shows deception and dishonesty and brings the case easily within Paragraphs 4 (a)(iii) and 4 (b) of the Policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Complainant has also cited several prior UDRP decisions in support of its contentions.<\/span><\/p>\n

For all of these reasons the Complainant submits that the disputed domain name has been <\/span>registered and used in bad faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

RESPONDENT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Respondent did not file a Response in this proceeding.<\/span><\/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).<\/span><\/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).<\/span><\/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).<\/span><\/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.<\/span><\/p>", "decision": "Accepted", "panelists": [ "Neil Brown" ], "date_of_panel_decision": "2023-08-21 00:00:00", "informal_english_translation": "

The Complainant is the registered owner of a series of trademarks for ADECCO registered in various jurisdictions around the world.<\/p>\n

Three of those trademarks are:<\/p>\n

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    the Swiss trademark ADECCO, registered with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, number P-431224, registered on September 26, 1996 in classes 35, 41 and 42;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    the International trademark ADECCO, No.666347, registered with the World Intellectual Property Organization on October 17, 1996, in classes 35, 41 and 42; and<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    the Hong Kong trademark ADECCO No. 199904349AA, registered on April 12, 1999 in classes 35, 41 and 42.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>", "decision_domains": { "adeccojobs.com": "TRANSFERRED" }, "panelist": null, "panellists_text": null }