A one member UDRP panel just handed over the domain name KnowHowInsurance.com, to the trademark holder of “Know How”

The Complainant registered the domain name KnowHow.com on  June 22, 1995; knowhow.co.uk January 14, 1997, and knowhowmovies.com on  June 27, 2011.

The UK trade mark of KNOWHOW was registered on January 21, 2011, for goods in class 9, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40 and 42, under number UK00002557010.

The UDRP panel expanded the trademark holders rights to include other words in domain with “Know How” which is a pretty generic term so a troubling decision I think.

The Complainant is the holder of the UK registered trade mark KNOWHOW.

The Disputed Domain name consists of the word “knowhow” with the addition of the generic word “insurance” and the gTLD “.com”. According to well-established consensus among UDRP panels, the gTLD is not distinguishing.

The Panel finds that the Complainant’s KNOWHOW trade mark is the distinctive part of the disputed Domain Name, and the addition of the generic word “insurance” is not sufficient to avoid Internet users’ confusion in relation to the trade mark. The added word “insurance” is more likely to increase confusion to customers because of its close association with connections to the Complainant’s business.

 

Consequently, the Panel finds the disputed Domain Name to be confusingly similar to the trade mark in which the Complainant has rights. The first element of the paragraph 4(a) of the Policy is thus fulfilled.

 

The disputed Domain Name was registered approximately seventeen years after the registration date of the Complainant’s domain name <knowhow.com> and one year after the registration date of the UK trade mark KNOWHOW.

The Complainant’s formal notification was delivered to the Respondent on August 15, 2012. The Respondent has not rebutted the Complainant’s contentions. The word “knowhow” is distinctive and protectable in relation to, inter alia, insurance. It is not probable that the Respondent has selected the disputed Domain Name including the trade mark KNOWHOW without knowledge of the Complainant’s trade mark.

 

Having regarded the facts of this case, it is in the Panel’s view apparent that the disputed Domain Name was registered with knowledge of the Complainant’s trade mark rights and with the intention of attracting customers for commercial gain by creating a likelihood of confusion with that same mark as to the source, affiliation, or endorsement of the Respondent’s website. All in all, the Panel finds that the disputed Domain Name has been registered and used in bad faith. The third and final element of the Policy is fulfilled.

 

 

For the foregoing reasons, in accordance with paragraphs 4(i) of the Policy and 15 of the Rules, the Panel orders that the disputed Domain Name <knowhowinsurance.com> be transferred to the Complainant.