The Complainant, founded in 1845, is a renowned Swiss chocolate maker with 11 production sites across Europe and the U.S. It distributes over 2,500 products through 28 subsidiaries, 500 retail shops, and 100+ distributors in 120+ countries. With 14,000+ employees, it generated CHF 5.2 billion in revenue in 2023.<\/p>\n
The Complainant and its affiliates own numerous domain names featuring the LINDT mark, including <lindt.com>, <lindt.ch>, <lindt.co.uk>, <lindt.se>, <lindt.it>, <lindtusa.com>, <lindt.ca>, <lindt.com.br>, <lindt.jp>, <lindt.cn>, and <lindt.com.au>, which are used for global marketing.<\/p>\n
The disputed domain name was registered on August 5, 2024 and currently resolves to inactive web-page.<\/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>", "no_response_filed": "
The Complainant<\/strong><\/p>\n The Complainant asserts that each of the elements enumerated in paragraph 4(a) of the Policy and the corresponding provisions in the Rules have been satisfied. In particular, the Complainant asserts that:<\/p>\n (1) The disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s LINDT trademark, as it fully incorporates this trademark, which is clearly recognizable within the disputed domain name. The disputed domain name’s second level comprises a misspelt form of the LINDT mark – the ‘i’ has been replaced with the similar-appearing letter ‘l’. Additionally, the presence of the generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) “.com” in the disputed domain name is a standard registration requirement and may be disregarded.<\/p>\n (2) The Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name, as the Respondent does not have trademark rights for, nor is it commonly known by, ‘llndt’ or any similar term. The Respondent is not connected to nor affiliated with the Complainant and has not received license or consent to use the LINDT mark in any way. There is no evidence that an entity with the name 'llndt.com' exists, and certainly not within Ontario, Canada (where the Respondent purports to be located). The Respondent's use of the disputed domain name (which is confusingly similar to the LINDT mark) as its alleged organisation name reflects an attempt to impersonate\/falsely legitimise the registration of the disputed domain name as being in connection with the Complainant. The disputed domain name previously resolved to an ‘under construction’ parking page and is now suspended, not resolving to any active site. The Respondent has not used, nor prepared to use, the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide<\/em> offering of goods or services, nor a legitimate non-commercial or fair use.<\/p>\n (3) The disputed domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith. The Complainant’s LINDT brand is well-established, distinctive, widely known, and registered as a trademark in many countries around the world. The Complainant’s oldest trademark registration predates the disputed domain name by more than a century, and its offerings are available in over 120 countries. The Complainant has a significant social media presence under the LINDT brand, with millions of followers, and holds a large portfolio of domain names which incorporate the LINDT mark at the second level. The Respondent has not responded to the Complainant’s representatives’ attempts to contact it; there is no evidence of the Respondent having made any good faith, legitimate non-commercial or fair use of the disputed domain name, nor of it being commonly known by such. There is no plausible explanation for the Respondent’s selection and registration of the disputed domain name other than to capitalise on the trademark value of the Complainant’s LINDT brand. The Respondent’s passive holding of the disputed domain name constitutes bad faith use under the Policy.<\/p>\n The Complainant requires the disputed domain name to be transferred.<\/p>\n The Respondent<\/strong><\/p>\n The Respondent did not reply to the Complainant’s contentions.<\/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": [
"Ganna Prokhorova"
],
"date_of_panel_decision": "2024-11-28 00:00:00",
"informal_english_translation": " The Complainant is the owner of the following trademark registrations, including the following:<\/p>\n - German trademark registration No. 91037 for LINDT in Class 30, registered on September 27, 1906;<\/p>\n - United States trademark registration number 87306 for LINDT in Class 30, registered on July 9, 1912;<\/p>\n - International trademark registration number 217838 for LINDT in Class 30, registered on March 2, 1959.<\/p>",
"decision_domains": {
"llndt.com": "TRANSFERRED"
},
"panelist": null,
"panellists_text": null
}