To receive Laws of .Com by email, please send an email to subscribe@lawsof.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. To unsubscribe, please send an email to unsubscribe@lawsof.com with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
CIRA Domain Name Decision: shopnchek.ca
On July 27, 2009, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) issued a decision regarding “shopnchek.ca”, a disputed domain name registered by an anonymous Registrant on October 15, 2008. The Complainant was Market Force Information, Inc., a Delaware Corporation with head offices in Louisville, Colorado and the parent company of Shop’N Chek, Inc. Shop’N Chek, Inc. held the Canadian trade-marks for SHOP ‘N CHEK, which was registered on July 10, 2008.
In order to initiate a CIRA Proceeding, the Complainant must, at the time of submitting a complaint, satisfy the Canadian Presence Requirements posted on the CIRA website. Furthermore, in order to be successful in such a proceeding, the Complainant must establish that: (a) the Registrant’s dot-ca domain name is confusingly similar to a mark in which the Complainant had rights prior to the date of registration of the domain name and continues to have such rights; (b) the Registrant has no legitimate interest in the domain name; and (c) the Registrant has registered the domain name in bad faith.
The Complainant was unsuccessful in this case because it did not meet the Canadian Presence Requirements; it did not have rights in the mark at issue (since Shop’N Chek, Inc. owned the mark and did not licence the mark to its parent); it failed to provide “some evidence” that the Registrant had no legitimate interest in the disputed domain name; and it failed to establish that the disputed domain name was registered in bad faith.
For a copy of the decision, visit:
http://www.cira.ca/assets/Uploads/00138-shopnchek.ca.pdf