Bausch & Lomb Regains Domain Name from Cybersquatter

In the case of Bausch & Lomb Incorporated v. Johnny Carpela, FA 910746 (Nat. Arb. Forum March 9, 2007), the court ruled that the domain name lotemax.com should be transferred to Bausch & Lomb. Complainant, Bausch & Lomb Inc., had registered the LOTEMAX mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (Reg. No. 2,182,587 issued August 18, 1998). Respondent registered the lotemax.com domain name on February 13, 2002. The disputed domain name resolved to no content.

The Panel first held that Respondent’s lotemax.com domain name contained Complainant’s LOTEMAX mark in its entirety and merely added the generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) “.com.” The Panel found that the mere addition of the gTLD “.com” to an otherwise identical mark failed to sufficiently distinguish the domain name from the mark pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(i).

The Panel then noted that Respondent’s disputed domain name currently resolved to no content. The Panel found that Respondent’s failure to associate any content with its disputed domain name was neither a bona fide offering of goods or service pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(i) nor a legitimate noncommercial or fair use pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(iii).

Furthermore, a review of Respondent’s WHOIS information revealed that the registrant of the lotemax.com domain name was “Johnny Carpela.” Lacking evidence to the contrary, the Panel found that Respondent was not commonly known by the disputed domain name pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(c)(ii).

Turning to the question of whether the domain name was registered and used in bad faith, the Panel noted that the Respondent was not currently attaching any content to its lotemax.com domain name. The Panel therefore found that Respondent’s failure to provide any content in association with its disputed domain name evinced registration and use in bad faith pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii).

Having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concluded that relief be GRANTED.