A Portmanteau word is a word that is formed by combining two or more words together. Like Smog (Smoke+Fog), Hinglish (Hindi + English) or popular acronyms for famous couples. These words are more important when it comes to branding. You can even take two generic words and combine them to form a secondary meaning. The same can however also be deployed for misusing the names as evident in our recent Case Study.
The domain name SipLeclerc.shop was under contention before MFSD. The Complainant is one of the largest supermarket and hypermarket chains in France. It operates under the domain name e.leclerc. The Complainant not only has the European Union trademark under the LECLERC from 2004, but also owns the entire .leclerc TLD.
The Complainant also owns a company called Societe D’Importation Leclerc. It operates on the domain name Siplec.leclerc. The contested domain name SipLeclerc.shop, clearly appears to be a portmanteau of the two terms SIPLEC and LECLERC.
The Panel found that the domain name was registered on 30 August 2021. The Respondent didn’t submit any response and has high chances of using the domain name malignly. The domain name contains the term that directly attacks the Complainant.
The domain name was transferred.
You can read the case in full detail here.
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