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Domain Name Dispute: Extremefitness.ca
A Canadian Internet Registration Authority (“CIRA”) panel recently heard a dispute regarding the domain name “extremefitness.ca”, owned by Gautam Relan (“Relan”). Extreme Fitness Inc. (“Extreme”), a Toronto area fitness club, is the owner of the registered trademark “EXTREME FITNESS (design)”, an unregistered mark “EXTREME FITNESS” and a similar trade name, as well as the domain name “extremefitness.info”. Relan is an individual who was a member of one of the Extreme Fitness Clubs in January 2005, which coincides with the date of registration of his domain name. As of August 2008 Relan was using the domain name to redirect users to the website “ripoffreport.com”, a consumer protest site.
The CIRA panel determined that the disputed name was “confusingly similar” to the mark to which Extreme had rights and used prior to the registration. Even though Extreme did not formally register the EXTREME FITNESS mark until after Relan registered the domain name, the CIRA panel ruled that Extreme had rights in the mark prior to that date, on the basis of use in magazine articles, print advertisements and promotional materials which pre-dated the domain name registration.
The CIRA panel ultimately ordered the domain name to be transferred to Extreme. In addition to the finding that the domain name was confusingly similar, the panel also determined that Relan had no legitimate interest in the domain name and it had been registered in bad faith.
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