Philip Morris wins domain name dispute – DomainNews

Tuesday, 24 November 2009 07:38 Domain News
Philip Morris USA ,the United States tobacco division of Altria Group has recenlty won a domain name name dispute . The company was represented in the lawsuit by Arnold & Porter LLP.They file a complaint with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center,requesting the disputed domain name ,us-marlboro.com,to be transferred from the respondent to the complainant.Because Philip Morris USA brands include Marlboro and because the company is the registered proprietor of the word mark MARLBORO in the USA,they contended in the complaint that the domain name is confusingly similar to its trademark.Moreover,they contended that the domain name was registered and used in bad faith,"Without any authority from the Complainant, the Respondent has incorporated the Complainant’s mark in the Domain Name, and it has reproduced on the Respondent’s website both the Complainant’s mark and copyright-protected material from the website operated by the Complainant’s parent company (including the parent company’s logo). The copyright claim: “Marlboro country © Powered by us-marlboro” strongly suggests that the Respondent’s website is either operated by or connected with the Complainant, as does the prominent and stylized use of the expression “PhilipMorrisUSA an Altria Company”. There does not appear to be any disclaimer advising site visitors that that is not the case; indeed the Respondent’s website appears to have been designed to create the false impression of an association with the Complainant."Therefore,because the respondent failed to submit a response in this proceeding and because the comalainanat managed to demonstrate all the elements needed,the Panel decided the disputed domain name,us-marlboro.com,to be transferred from the respondent to the complainant.
You can read the decision here .