Philip Morris Wins Marlboro83.com Domain Name in Arbitration

Philip Morris USA Inc. filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum on January 31,2014,asserting legal rights over the domain name Marlboro83.com.

According to whois records, the domain name was first registere in 2013.

Philip Morris owns many trademark registrations for the “Marlboro” mark all over the world.Therefore,it is more than obvious that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar with its trademark .Moreover,the company contended in the complaint that the respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name and that the respondent registered and used the disputed domain name in bad faith .

One of the key points of this complaint was when Philip Morris managed to demonstrate that the respondent registered and used the disputed domain name in bad faith,by attracting Internet Internet users to Respondent’s website.

Philip Morris managed to establish all three elements required under the ICANN Policy and the Panel ordered the disputed domain name to be transferred from the respondent to the complainant.

You can read the decision here .