Jimmy Choo wins cybersquatting case
01-04-2016
Radu Bercan / Shutterstock.com
Fashion brand Jimmy Choo has won a domain name dispute at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
On August 23, José Pio Tamassia Santos of WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Center transferred the domain names jimmychoopumps.com and jimmychooshoessales.com.
The complaint was filed on June 16 against “lee rose” of Chongqing, China and Whois Privacy Protection Service of Washington, US. The ruling was published yesterday, September 1.
In its complaint, Jimmy Choo claimed that the domain names, which had been registered without authorisation, incorporated the trademark ‘Jimmy Choo’ in its entirety, with the addition of “shoessales” and “pumps” to the registered mark.
Discussing whether the marks were identical, Santos said: “The numerous examples of brand investment, advertising spend, media references and endorsements from celebrities and the public demonstrate that the complainant has invested time and money into promoting its products and has an international reputation as a luxury fashion brand.”
He added that the use of the trademark is “clearly an attempt to catch Internet users searching for the complainant’s goods using the complainant’s registered trademarks”.
The panellist also found that lee rose has no rights or legitimate interests in them and that the domains are being used in bad faith.
Jimmy Choo, domain names, WIPO, trademark, cybersquatting
