Decisión del Panel Administrativo nº D2000-1257 of WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, November 06, 2000 (case CellControl Biomedical Laboratories GmbH. vs. Mike Flowers)

• Judge: P-E Petter Rindforth
• Resolution Date: November 06, 2000
• Issuing Organization: WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
• Decision: Complaint denied
• Dominio: Generic Domains

WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION

CellControl Biomedical Laboratories GmbH v. Mike Flowers

Case No. D2000-1257

1. The Parties

   The Complainant is CellControl Biomedical Laboratories GmbH, Am Klopferspitz 19, Martinsried/Munich, Germany, represented by Vossius & Partner, Munich, Germany ("Complainant").

   The Respondent is Mr. Mike Flowers, Via Roma 23, Osmate, Italy, represented by G.E. Incorporation srl., Viale Europa 13, Verese, Italy ("Respondent").

2. The Domain Names and Registrar

   The dispute concerns the domain names "cellcontrol.com", "cellcontrol.org" and "cellcontrol.net".

   The Registrar is Network Solutions, Inc., Virginia, USA.

3. Procedural History

   The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center ("the Center") received the Complainant’s Complaint in electronic form on September 22, 2000, and in hard copy on September 25, 2000.

   The Center verified that the complaint was filed in accordance with the requirements of the ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ("the Policy"), the Rules for the Policy ("the Rules"), and the Supplemental Rules for the Policy ("the Supplemental Rules").

   Complainant made the required payment to the Center.

   On September 27, 2000, the Center transmitted via e-mail to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with this case. On September 29, 2000, the Registrar transmitted via e-mail to the Center, the Registrar’s Verification Response, confirming that (1) Network Solutions is the Registrar of the Domain Names, (2) Mike Flowers (the Respondent) is the registrant, (3) Mike Flowers is the Administrative, Technical, Zone and Billing Contact, (4) the Registrar’s 5.0 Service Agreement is in effect with respect to the Domain Names, and (5) the Domain Names are in "Active" status.

   The formal date of the commencement of this administrative proceeding is October 2, 2000.

   On October 2, 2000, the Center transmitted Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding, together with a copy of the Complaint, to the Respondent via e-mail and via post/courier to the address identified in the Registrar verification response. The Center advised that (1) the Respondent’s Response was due by October 21, 2000, (2) in the event of default the Center would still appoint a Panel to review the facts of the dispute and to decide the case, (3) the Panel may draw such inferences from the Respondent’s default as it considers appropriate, (4) the Complainant had elected for the matter to be decided by a single panelist.

   The Respondent communicated with the Center via e-mail on October 2 and October 5, 2000, and filed the Response on via e-mail and fax on October 18, 2000. A hardcopy of the Response was received by the Center on October 18, 2000.

   On October 23, 2000, in view of the Complainant’s designation of a single panelist the Center invited Mr. P-E Petter Rindforth to serve as a panelist.

   Having received Mr. Rindforth’s Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence, the Center, on October 25, 2000, transmitted to the parties a Notification of Appointment of Administrative Panel and Projected Decision Date, in which Mr. Rindforth was formally appointed as the sole Panelist. The Projected Decision Date was November 8, 2000. The Sole Panelist finds that the Administrative Panel was properly constituted and appointed in accordance with the Rules and Supplemental Rules.

   However, having reviewed all formal documentation in the case, the Panel found that the registered holder of the Domain Names, Mr. Mike Flowers, had not filed any Response in his own name. Instead the Response was filed on October 18, 2000, by Mr. Luca Zanetti at a company G.E. Incorporation srl., claiming to be the Respondent’s authorized representative as well as the right holders of the Domain Names. The Panel asked the Center to obtain documentation proving any link between Mr. Mike Flowers – Mr. Luca Zanetti – G.E. Incorporation srl. On October 27, 2000, the Center forwarded to the Panel a Respondent Amendment explaining the said link (however now stating Mr. Mike Flowers as the Respondent’s authorized representative).

   The Panel concludes that the Respondent has been able to sufficiently prove the link between Flowers/Zanetti/G.E. Incorporation srl.

   Accordingly, the Administrative Panel shall issue its Decision based on the Complaint, the Response, the Respondent Amendment, the Policy, the Rules, and the Supplemental Rules. The case before the Panel was conducted in the English language.

4. Factual Background

   Complainant is owner of German trademark 396 18 643 "CellControl Biomedical Laboratories GmbH", filed on April 19, 1996, and registered on May 10, 1997. Complainant has also applied for trademark protection for the term "CellControl" in the European Union (filed on April 7...