Decisión del Panel Administrativo nº D2005-0823 of WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, October 05, 2005 (case Costco Wholesale Corporation vs. Mohammad Hassan)

• Judge: Jay Simon
• Resolution Date: October 05, 2005
• Issuing Organization: WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
• Decision: Transfer
• Dominio: Generic Domains

WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION

Costco Wholesale Corporation and Costco Wholesale Membership Inc. v. Mohammad Hassan

Case No. D2005-0823

1. The Parties

   1.1 The Complainant is Costco Wholesale Corporation and Costco Wholesale Membership Inc., Issaquah, United States of America, represented by the Law Office of Mark J. Nielsen, United States of America.

   1.2 The Respondent is Mohammad Hassan, Corona, California, United States of America.

2. The Domain Name and Registrar

   2.1 The disputed domain name is registered with Tucows.

3. Procedural History

   3.1 The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the ?Center?) on August 1, 2005; a hard copy of the Complaint was received by the Center on August 3, 2005. On August 2, 2005, the Center transmitted by email to Tucows a request for registrar verification in connection with the domain name at issue. On August 8, 2005, Tucows transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that the Respondent is listed as the registrant and providing the contact details for the administrative, billing, and technical contact. The Center verified that the Complaint satisfied the formal requirements of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the ?Policy?), 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?).

   3.2 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 August 19, 2005. In accordance with the Rules, Paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was September 8, 2005. The Respondent did not submit any Response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent?s default on September 9, 2005.

   3.3 The Center appointed Jay Simon as the sole Panelist in this matter on September 21, 2005. 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.

   3.4 The Complaint and the formal documents were transmitted electronically to the Panel on September 21, 2005, and a hard copy, with attached exhibits, was forwarded by courier to the Panel on the same day.

4. Factual Background

   4.1 Complainant is a warehouse club and operates about 336 warehouse club stores in the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under the name ?Costco?. Complainant operates additional warehouse club stores in several countries including Mexico, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Republic of Korea, Japan and Taiwan, Province of China.

   4.2 Shopping in Complainant?s warehouse stores is through membership in Complainant?s shopping club which issues membership cards to shoppers. Complainant has more than 44 million authorized cardholders worldwide, of which more than 33 million are in the United States. Complainant?s sales in 2004 were in excess of U.S. $47 billion.

   4.3 Complainant is more than a grocery supermarket offering a variety of products including foods, beverages, household paper products, clothing, personal care products, nutritional supplements, computers and home furnishings, appliances both large and small, jewelry, holiday decorations, tools, garden supplies, automotive supplies, and sports equipment. Many of these products are brand name products.

   Complainant, in its warehouse stores, also offers a variety of services including photo processing, optical and hearing aid services, pharmacy, bakery, delicatessen and take out food, tire installation, auto, home and health insurance, commercial and mortgage lending, etc.

   4.4 Complainant?s predecessor company, The Price Company, was the first U.S. company to operate a membership warehouse club store and operated its first warehouse store under the PRICE CLUB name in San Diego, California in 1976. The Price Company expanded its operations in the United States and also into Canada and Mexico. In 1993, the Price Company merged with Complainant, at which time the Price Company had annual sales of U.S. $7.6 billion.

   4.5 Complainant owns the domain name , which name resolves to Complainant?s ?www.costco.com? website.

   4.6 Complainant admits that most of its United States warehouse stores originally opened by The Price Company now bear Complainant?s COSTCO marks on outside signage.

   4.7 Complainant owns trademark registrations from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for various...