Lauren Thibodeau v. Saeid Yomtobian
[Indexed as: Thibodeau v. Yomtobian]
[Indexed as: doctorlauren.com]
National Arbitration Forum
File No.: FA94868
Commenced: 22 May 2000
Judgement: 28 June 2000
Presiding Panelist: Richard DiSalle
Domain name Domain name dispute resolution policy Trademark Identical Recognition Bad faith Legitimate rights.
Complainant is the owner of domain name drlauren.com. She is a regular guest on national radio broadcasts, and the website is often mentioned. Respondent registered the name doctorlauren.com which orally sounds identical to Complainants name and public persona.
Held, Name Transferred to Complainant.
Respondents name is essentially identical with Complainants public
persona, and is confusing to users seeking her website.
Respondent registered the name in bad faith by intending to draw
traffic to its own site which features hourly sex shows, and does not
feature anyone named Doctor Lauren. The first page of doctorlauren.com
is identical to another of Respondents sites. Thus, Respondent has
no legitimate interests in the name, and registered and used it in bad
faith. Respondents knowledge and use of the name before selecting
his companys name is a clear indication of bad faith.
Policies referred to
Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
DiSalle, Panelist: -
The above entitled matter came on for an administrative hearing on
June 28, 2000,
before the undersigned on the Complaint of Lauren Thibodeau, (Complainant)
against Saeid Yomtobian, (Respondent). Upon the written submitted
record
including the Complaint and Respondents Response to Domain Complaint,
the
following DECISION is rendered:
PROCEDURAL FINDINGS
U.S. Trademark Registration Serial No.: Application in process
Trademark Applicant/Owner: Lauren Thibodeau
Registration Date: October 31, 1998
Registration Name: drlauren.com
Domain Name: doctorlauren.com
Domain Name Registrar: Corenic.net (CORE-28)
Domain Name Registrant: Saeid Yomtobian
Date of Domain Name Registration: February 12, 2000
Date Complaint Filed: May 22, 2000
Date Response to Complaint Filed: No date given
After reviewing the complaint, and determining it to be in administrative
compliance, the National Arbitration Forum (Forum) forwarded the complaint
to
the respondent in compliance with Rule 2(a)[1] and the administrative
proceeding
was commenced pursuant to Rule 4(c). In compliance with Rule
4(d), the Forum
timely gave notice that the administrative proceeding had commenced.
The
complainant elected to have this administrative proceeding conducted
by a single
arbitrator and paid the appropriate fee for same. The Complaint
and the
Respondents Response to Domain Complaint were docketed and forwarded
to
the undersigned arbitrator for decision.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1.Complainants public persona has been Doctor Lauren
which is often
abbreviated to Dr. Lauren, both in written
and spoken communication.
Since October 31, 1998, she has been the owner
of www.drlauren.com.
2.In hundreds of radio broadcast guest appearances dating
back to
December, 1998, she has been called Dr. Lauren
by program hosts and
callers. She is a regular guest on both
local and national radio programs,
some of which are also broadcast via the World
Wide Web. Radio
program hosts often mention her website, drlauren.com,
which when
spoken, is identical to doctorlauren.com.
In addition, she has distributed
promotional materials since 1998 which use
Doctor Lauren and/or Dr.
Lauren, including a toll-free number and
domain address, drlauren.com.
3.Her complaint concerns www.doctorlauren.com, which was
registered
February 12, 2000, 18 months after she began
to use Doctor Lauren/Dr.
Lauren for professional purposes.
4.The use of the domain doctorlauren.com is essentially
identical with her
public persona, primarily via website, and
is confusing to those who are
seeking to find her via drlauren.com.
5.Complainant contends that the Respondent has no legitimate
interest in the
domain name doctorlauren.com and chose it
specifically because of its
identical sound when spoken over the radio.
Doctorlauren.com hosts hourly
live sex shows featuring people and animals,
none of whom is referred to as
Doctor Lauren. The content posted
to www.doctorlauren.com, at least
the first page, is identical to www.sexhorse,com,
also registered by Mr.
Saeid Yomtobian (template COCO-1340) through
Corenic.net.
6.Doctorlauren.com is simply another domain on which
to post existing
content that is featured, and available, from
at least one other location,
www.sexhorse.com. Doctorlauren.com
was registered and used in bad
faith, in the hope that frequent media appearances,
during which
drlauren.com is mentioned often and which
sounds identical to
doctorlauren.com, would draw traffic to
doctorlauren.com.
7.There is no legitimate interest in the domain name doctorlauren.com
in and
of itself.
8.The Respondents response to the Complaint, set forth
in its entirety, is as
follows: The domain name doctorlauren.com
belongs to our company. We
have purchased it under the rules and regulations
of the United States. Our
corporation has been doing business since
Feb 1 1992.
9.There is no explanation by Respondent as to whom the
name was purchased
from, when it was purchased, or when the name
was registered.
10.The Respondents domain name, doctorlauren.com is either
identical to, or
confusingly similar to, the Complainants
trademark, drlauren.com.
11.Respondents knowledge of the use of the name and trademark
before
selecting his companys name is a clear indication
of his bad faith and a
willful disregard of the Complainants trademark.
CONCLUSION
The undersigned arbitrator certifies that he has acted independently
and has no
known conflict of interest to serve as an arbitrator in this proceeding.
Having been
duly selected, and being impartial, the undersigned makes the following
conclusions:
1.The domain name doctorlauren.com is identical and confusingly
similar to the
Complainants trademark, drlauren.com
2.Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in
respect of the registered
domain name at issue.
3.Respondent has registered and is using in bad
faith.
DECISION
AND NOW, this 28 day of June, 2000, based upon the above findings and
conclusions, and pursuant to Rule 4(i) of the ICANNs Rules for Uniform
Domain
Name Dispute Resolution Policy and the National Arbitration Forums
Supplemental Rules to ICANNs Uniform Domain Resolution Policy, it
is decided
as follows:
THE UNDERSIGNED ORDERS THAT THE DOMAIN NAME,
doctorlauren.com REGISTERED BY RESPONDENT, Saeid Yomtobian, BE
FORTHWITH TRANSFERRED TO COMPLAINANT, Lauren Thibodeau
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