Timec Oil and Gas, Inc. is a US Company that provides mechanical, maintenance, turnaround, and construction services in the oil and gas industry. The Company was concerned regarding the misuse of its registered trademarks.
A domain name TimecServices.com was hampering its trademark. The company thus filed a Complaint at WIPO over it.
The Complainant here operates at the domain name Timec.com. The Complaint presents trademark rights over TIMEC mark, which was filed in October 2020. The Complainant however claims that its first use date was in 1971.
The Respondent claims to be the President of Timec Services Inc., incorporated in December 2017. The disputed domain name was registered in October 2017.
Both the parties engaged in a conversation prior to this dispute resolution process. The Respondent offered the domain name for sale at the price of USD 100,000. However, an agreement couldn’t be achieved.
The panel found that the Respondent registered the disputed domain name two months before the trademark registration by the Complainant. However, the Complainant’s claim of acquiring common law rights, as the mark has attained notoriety in 1971, couldn’t be dismissed. The Complainant was a well known and popular entity.
The panel also looked into the Complainant’s investigation disputing the Respondent’s claim of operating actual services. The Respondent couldn’t answer the questions related to this issue thus hinting towards bad faith. The additional fact that the disputed domain name was offered for sale by the Respondent to the Complainant portrays the Respondent in a bad light.
Considering the merits of the case, the panel decided that the panel won’t be the best place to arbitrate such a case. The panel suggested the parties to approach other judicial authorities and declined the Complaint.
To read the case in full detail, click here.
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