Decisión del Panel Administrativo nº DUA2020-0020 of WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, September 19, 2020 (case Vinted Limited v. Владимир Степанович Глусь)

Resolution DateSeptember 19, 2020
Issuing OrganizationWIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
DecisionTransfer
DominioUcrania (.ua)

WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION

Vinted Limited v. Владимир Степанович Глусь

Case No. DUA2020-0020

1. The Parties

The Complainant is Vinted Limited, of United Kingdom, represented by Baker & McKenzie, Ukraine.

The Respondent is Владимир Степанович Глусь, Ukraine.

2. The Domain Name and Registrar

The disputed domain name [vinted.ua] (the “Disputed Domain Name”) is registered with Imena.ua (the “Registrar”).

3. Procedural History

The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on July 7, 2020. On July 7, 2020, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the Disputed Domain Name. On July 8, 2020, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response disclosing registrant and contact information for the Disputed Domain Name which differed from the named Respondent and contact information in the Complaint.

The Center sent an email communication to the Complainant on July 16, 2020, providing the registrant and contact information disclosed by the Registrar, and inviting the Complainant to submit an amendment to the Complaint. The Complainant filed an amendment to the Complaint on July 20, 2020.

The Registrar confirmed that the language of the Registration Agreement for the Disputed Domain Name is Russian. On July 16, 2020, the Center sent an email communication in both English and in Russian to the Parties regarding the language of the proceeding. On July 20, 2020, the Complainant confirmed the language of the proceeding to be English. The Respondent did not submit any comments on the language of the proceeding.

The Center verified that the Complaint together with the amendment to the Complaint satisfied the formal requirements of .UA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “.UA Policy”), the Rules for .UA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “.UA Rules”), and the WIPO Supplemental Rules for .UA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “WIPO Supplemental Rules”).

In accordance with the .UA Rules, paragraphs 2(a) and 4(a), the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint in both English and Russian, and the proceedings commenced on July 29, 2020. In accordance with the .UA Rules, paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was August 18, 2020. The Respondent submitted its Response on August 18, 2020.

The Center appointed Mariya Koval as the sole panelist in this matter on August 26, 2020. 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 .UA Rules, paragraph 7.

4. Factual Background

The Complainant is an online marketplace, it operates an online international consumer-to-consumer marketplace in Europe dedicated to second-hand fashion with a growing member base of 30 million users. The Complainant was established in 2008 with offices in Vilnius, Berlin, Warsaw, and Prague and now more than 450 employees. Since November 2019, the Complainant becomes a “Unicorn” startup meaning that the Complainant’s value is now over USD1 billion.

The Complainant is the owner of numerous VINTED trademark registrations (the “Complainant’s Trademark” or “Trademark”) around the world, including Ukraine, among which are:

- International Trademark No. 1194860, registered on July 15, 2013, in respect of services in classes 35, 38, and 45 designating Ukraine;

- European Union Trademark Registration No. 11678431 registered on September 4, 2013 in respect of services in classes 35, 38, and 45;

- European Union Trademark Registration No. 017630146 registered on May 31, 2018 in respect of services in classes 35, 38, 42, and 45;

- European Union Trademark Registration No. 016440877, registered on June 20, 2017 in respect of goods in class 25.

The Complainant operates numerous domain names, such as [vinted.com] (registered on June 25, 1999), [vinted.fr], [vinted.es], [vinted.be], [vinted.nl], [vinted.lu], [vinted.co.uk], [vinted.pl], [vinted.cz] for promoting its products on the Internet.

The Disputed Domain Name was registered on February 26, 2016. At the date of this Decision, the Disputed Domain Name does not resolve to any active website and contains an indication “registered by imena.ua Internet service on errand and in behalf of client”. The Complainant states that on the date of filling of the Complaint the website under the Disputed Domain Name redirected traffic to another website “www.revint.ua” where a second-hand fashion items resale platform is located. The Respondent does not contest this fact.

The Respondent has registered the VINTED trademark Ukrainian registration No. 209249 (the “Respondent’s Trademark”), registered on February 25, 2016 in respect of goods in class 25.

5. Parties’ Contentions

A. Complainant

The Complainant contends that it does business exclusively under the Complainant’s VINTED Trademark in all markets by providing customers with a platform to sell their clothing and accessories, purchase or swap from other users, and communicate with members using the forums. The Complainant has acquired substantial reputation in this area.

The Complainant spends significant budget (several millions of EUR every year) for TV ads and digital marketing in order to advertise its VINTED Trademark. The Complainant notes that the website “www.vinted.com” is also popular in Ukraine. Many Ukrainian customers use it to sell or purchase items via the Complainant’s online platform taking advantage of simplicity of buying with high level of buyer protection provided by the Complainant.

The Complainant alleges that the Disputed Domain Name is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s distinctive VINTED Trademark. The Disputed Domain Name incorporates the Complainant’s Trademark in its entirety, and the country code Top-Level Domain (“ccTLD”) “.ua” does nothing to differentiate the Disputed Domain Name from the Complainant’s Trademark.

The Complainant further claims that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Disputed Domain Name in view of the following:

- it appears likely that the Respondent’s Trademark was registered in Ukraine for the purpose of getting the Disputed Domain Name;

- the website under the Disputed Domain Name automatically redirects to another website “www.revint.ua” providing competing services;

- the Respondent’s Trademark was not used with respect to goods in class 25 in respect of which it was registered;

- the Respondent does not make a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the Disputed Domain Name without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert consumers or to tarnish the Complainant’s Trademark. Quite the opposite, the Disputed Domain Name was opportunistically registered and is used for purposes other than to host a website, namely - for merely redirecting Internet users who are searching for the Complainant’s platform and in order to redirect them in their own second-hand fashion item resale platform in order to benefit from the Complainant’s reputation;

- the Respondent is not affiliated with nor authorized by the Complainant to use its prior registered Trademark, including in the Disputed Domain Name, or to offer the Complainant’s services, thus no actual or contemplated bona fide or legitimate use of the Disputed Domain Name could be reasonably claimed;

- the Respondent has not been commonly known by the Disputed Domain Name.

The Complainant also asserts that the Disputed Domain Name was registered and is being used in bad faith in view of it has as solely been registered...

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