Decisión del Panel Administrativo nº D2014-1416 of WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, October 15, 2014 (case Dietrich Mateschitz and Red Bull GmbH v. The Gratitude Juice Foundation)
| Resolution Date | October 15, 2014 |
| Issuing Organization | WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center |
| Decision | Cancellation |
| Dominio | Generic Domains |
The Complainants are Dietrich Mateschitz of Fuschl am See, Austria and Red Bull GmbH of Fuschl am See, Austria, represented by Drzewiecki, Tomaszek & Wspólnicy Spólka Komandytowa, Poland.
The Respondent is The Gratitude Juice Foundation of Melhourne, Victoria, Australia.
The disputed domain name [dietrichmateschitz.com] (“the Domain Name”) is registered with Crazy Domains FZ-LLC (the “Registrar”).
The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on August 18, 2014 On August 18, 2014, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the Domain Name. On August 20, 2014, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that the Respondent is listed as the registrant and providing the contact details.
The Center verified that the Complaint satisfied the formal requirements of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy” or “UDRP”), the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Rules”), and the WIPO Supplemental Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Supplemental Rules”).
On August 30, 2014, the Center received an informal email communication from the Respondent. The Center acknowledged its receipt on September 3, 2014.
In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2(a) and 4(a), the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on September 3, 2014. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was September 23, 2014. The Respondent did not submit any formal response. Accordingly, the Center notified the commencement of panel appointment process on September 24, 2014.
The Center appointed Isabel Davies as the sole panelist in this matter on October 1, 2014. The Panel finds that it was properly constituted. The Panel has submitted the Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence, as required by the Center to ensure compliance with the Rules, paragraph 7.
In 1984, Dietrich Mateschitz (the First Complainant) co-founded Red Bull GmbH (the Second Complainant), where since its creation he has held the position of the Managing Director.
The First Complainant is also originator of a Red Bull Media House project.
The First Complainant, with the net worth of USD 9,2 billion as of June 2014, is the richest person in Austria, ranked on the 162 position of the Forbes’ Billionaires List.
The Second Complainant is the producer of the famous Red Bull energy drink, which was first sold in Austria in 1987 and internationally since 1992. Currently, the Red Bull energy drink is sold in 159 countries all over the world and the Second Complainant has sold over 5.2 billion serving units globally in 2012 and over 138.0 million units in Australia in 2012. The RED BULL marks are protected in 207 jurisdictions worldwide.
The First Complainant is owner of international trademark registration IR 1193833 DIETRICH MATESCHITZ with a priority date of November 12, 2013. The Second Complainant is a licensee of the trademark.
The Domain Name was registered on July 27, 2013.
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Complainants’ Activities
The Complainants state that the First Complainant is an Austrian businessman – co-founder and Managing Director of the Second Complainant.
In 1984, the First Complainant co-founded the Second Complainant, where since its inception he has held the position of the Managing Director. With the launch in 1987, subsequently, the First Complainant turned the Red Bull drink into a world market leader among energy drinks.
As a sport enthusiast, the First Complainant created a whole Red Bull marketing strategy based on investing in sports, enterprises and ventures, sponsorship of athletes and buying various sports teams, such as Red Bull New York and FC Red Bull Salzburg football clubs or Red Bull Racing Formula One’s team. His dedication to the latter one resulted in the First Complainant becoming internationally recognized not only as the Managing Director of the Second Complainant, but also as the boss of the Red Bull’s Formula One team.
The First Complaint is also originator of a Red Bull Media House project.
The First Complaint, with the net worth of USD 9,2 billion as of June 2014, is the richest person in Austria, ranked on the 162 position of the Forbes’ Billionaires List.
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The Second Complainant is the Largest Worldwide Producer of Energy Drinks
It is the producer of the famous Red Bull energy drink, which was first sold in Austria in 1987 and internationally since 1992. Currently, the Red Bull energy drink is sold in 159 countries all over the world and the Second Complainant has sold over 5.2 billion serving units globally in 2012 and over 138.0 million units in Australia in 2012. The RED BULL marks are protected in 207 jurisdictions worldwide.
The Complainants state that since its launch in 1987, the Second Complainant’s marketplace penetration was focused on TV, cinema and radio. In 1987, Red Bull invested over EUR 577,000 and already in 2012, this number has grown to over EUR 1.7 billion worldwide in 2012. Based on these figures, the brand has become the unchallenged market leader in all its markets.
Additionally, the Second Complainant has promoted the RED BULL trademark and the device of two fighting bulls by very substantial international advertising. Much of this advertising by its nature is global or regional.
Recently the Red Bull Stratos project caused great media attention. On Sunday morning October 14, 2012, Felix Baumgartner climbed up to 128,100 feet (39,045 meters) in a capsule carried by a helium-filled balloon. He jumped out of the capsule and reached an estimated speed of 833.9 mph (1,342.8 km/h), which when certified will make him the first man breaking the speed of sound in freefall. Felix Baumgartner broke two other world records (highest freefall, highest manned balloon flight).
Countless millions of people around the world watched his ascent and jump live on television broadcasts and live stream on the Internet. With over 8 million concurrent viewers on the YouTube live stream, it was the most viewed live stream so far (previous record was only 500.000 for 2012 Summer Olympics). The event caused 25 million visits to the Red Bull websites, over 267.000 Red Bull TV iOS app downloads. On Facebook and Twitter the jump generated 500.000 likes, 20.000 comments and 66.000 shares and 3.2 million tweets with official hashtags.
For this event, the Second Complainant registered special domain name [redbullstratos.com].
Furthermore, the Second Complainant organizes the RED BULL X-Fighters event which attracts thousands of spectators at each event. The Second Complainant also organizes the RED BULL FLUGTAG event during which competitors attempt to fly in homemade flying machines. The event was first held in Vienna, Austria, in September 1992 and attracted around 25.000 spectators. First held in 1998 in Berlin, the RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY (workshops on music history, technology and business) was established in Dublin, New York, London, Sao Paulo, Cape Town, Rome, Toronto, Melbourne, Barcelona and Seattle, increasing the international mix of students to 32 countries.
They state that the Second Complainant’s sponsorship of sports events is an essential part of their marketing. In particular, the Second Complainant has been extensively involved in Formula One Racing. In 1995 the Second Complainant began its participation in Formula One Circuit/Racing, sponsoring the RED BULL SAUBER PETRONAS team which it co-owned until 2001. In January 2005, Red Bull took over the former Jaguar team and re-named it RED BULL RACING. In 2010, 2011 and 2012 Red Bull Racing won both the World Constructors’ (WCC) and Drivers Championship Title.
The Second Complainant, it is stated, also is involved in many other sports and sponsorship.
Therefore, through sales activities, television broadcasts, Internet activities and events sponsored by the Second Complainant, the RED BULL energy drink and the trademark RED BULL have become extremely well-known in many countries and famous in Austria. That reputation is confirmed by the statistics of studies conducted in 2003 in Germany and Austria, where 83,7% and 90% of the general public spontaneously associated the trademark RED BULL with the Second Complainant’s RED BULL energy drink. In a survey conducted in 2011 by the monthly magazine magic numbers, 94% of the worldwide respondents knew the brand Red Bull.
The Second Complainant is the registrant of a large number of domain names containing the RED BULL mark, both under generic and country-code Top-Level Domains. The Second Complainant’s main website “www.redbull.com” contains information on the RED BULL energy drink, sport activities, video records of sport events sponsored by the Second Complainant and links to other RED BULL websites, all of which regard marketing activities in relation to the famous trademark RED BULL. The RED BULL website “www.redbull.com” received approx. 430 million page views in 2013. It includes Red Bull’s local country and events websites. One single page view causes in average 8 hits on RED BULL websites.
The Second Complainant is the owner of multiple registrations and applications of trademarks consisting of or containing the famous RED BULL mark. The various trademark registrations and applications RED BULL of the Second Complainant cover an extensive range of goods and services and span all of 45 trademark classes. The Second Complainant and its subsidiaries hold national and international trademark registrations or applications...
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