French Company Fails To Get #domain Via The #UDRP Process :DomainGang

YellohConsultancy.com: French company fails to get #domain via the #UDRP process

Posted by DomainGang on August 27, 2021, at 12:03 pm

A French company using the mark YELLOH for its high-end camping villages, attempted to get the domain YellohConsultancy.com via the UDRP process. They operate from YellowVillage.fr.

In its UDRP, the Complainant claimed that the domain infringes on its mark:

The Complainant operates as a chain of franchises run by leading professionals in the sector and is recognized as the foremost network of high-end camping-villages. The Complainant contends that disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the trademark YELLOH in which the Complainant has rights as it reproduces the trademark in its entirety with the mere addition of the descriptive term “consultancy” and the generic Top-Level Domain (“gTLD”) “.com”.

The sole WIPO panelist found that the inclusion of YELLOH in the domain infringes on the Complainant’s mark. However, he found that the domain was registered and is being used in good faith:

In view of the above and considering that i) the Respondent appears to have been operating mainly in the consulting field in Germany and Arab United Emirates while the Complainant is operating its business in France and ii) the Respondent has provided a plausible explanation about the reason of its selection of the sign “YellOh! Consultancy” due to the direct relation with its business that Respondent operates at “www.yell-oh.co”, and iii) noting that the Respondent has also used a logo which differs from the Complainant’s trademark YELLOH, the Panel finds that the record appears to support that the Respondent came with the name independently of the Complainant’s trademark, and has been using the disputed domain name in connection with an apparent bona fide offering of its services.

Final decision: Deny transfer of the domain YellohConsultancy.com to the Complainant.