Complainant states that it is “a French multi-national company, engaged in the food industry, particularly the dairy sector”; that it is “the largest dairy products group in the world, with over 85,500 employees, 266 production sites, and a presence in over 51 different countries”; that it “has traded under the name ‘Lactalis’ since 1999”; and that it “has a strong presence in the United States through its subsidiary LACTALIS AMERICAN GROUP.”<\/p>\n
The Disputed Domain Name was created on February 8, 2024, and, according to Complainant, is being used in connection with what appears to be a monetized parking, or pay-per-click (“PPC”), page, including a link labelled “Menu de la Semaine” (French for “Menu of the Week”).<\/p>", "other_legal_proceedings": "
The Panel is not aware of any other legal proceedings that are pending or decided and that relate to the Disputed Domain Name.<\/p>", "no_response_filed": "
Complainant contends, in relevant part, as follows:<\/p>\n
Paragraph 4(a)(i): Complainant states that the Disputed Domain Name is confusingly similar to the LACTALIS Trademark because, inter alia, “the addition of the letter ‘C’ and the addition of the letters ‘US’ (for ‘United States’) are not sufficient to escape the finding that the domain name is confusingly similar to the trademark” because they “do[] not change the overall impression of the designation as being connected to the Complainant’s trademark LACTALIS”; “the addition of the term ‘US’ may increase the risk of confusion as it directly refers to the Complainant’s activities in the United States through its subsidiary LACTALIS AMERICAN GROUP”; and “the addition of the gTLD ‘.COM’ does not change the overall impression of the designation as being connected to Complainant’s trademark.”<\/p>\n
Paragraph 4(a)(ii): Complainant states that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Disputed Domain Name because, inter alia, “Respondent is not identified in the WHOIS database as the disputed domain name”; “Respondent is not affiliated with nor authorized by LACTALIS Group in any way”; “[n]either licence nor authorization has been granted to the Respondent to make any use of the Complainant’s trademark LACTALIS, or apply for registration of the disputed domain name by the Complainant”; and use of the Disputed Domain Name to “resolve[] to a parking page with commercial links… is not a bona fide offering of goods or services or legitimate non-commercial or fair use.”<\/p>\n
Paragraph 4(a)(iii): Complainant states that the Disputed Domain Name was registered and is being used in bad faith because, inter alia, “given the distinctiveness of the Complainant's trademark and reputation, the Complainant can state that the Respondent has registered the disputed domain names with full knowledge of the Complainant's trademark LACTALIS, and therefore could not ignore the Complainant”; by using the \/ Disputed Domain Name to “resolve[] to a parking page with commercial links[, …] the Respondent has attempt to attract Internet users for commercial gain to his own website thanks to the Complainant’s trademarks for its own commercial gain”; and “MX servers are configured… which suggests that the disputed domain name may be actively used for email purposes.”<\/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 UDRP).<\/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).<\/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).<\/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": [ "Douglas Isenberg" ], "date_of_panel_decision": "2024-04-09 00:00:00", "informal_english_translation": "
Complainant states, and provides relevant evidence, that it owns a number of registrations for trademarks that consist of “LACTALIS,” including EU Reg. No. 1,529,833 for LACTALIS (registered November 7, 2002); Int’l Reg. No. 900,154 for LACTALIS (registered July 27, 2006); and U.S. Reg. No. 6,824,877 for LACTALIS (registered on August 23, 2022) (the “LACTALIS Trademark”).<\/p>", "decision_domains": { "us-lactalics.com": "TRANSFERRED" }, "panelist": null, "panellists_text": null }