Allphones Retail Pty Ltd and AMT Group pty Ltd v Irae Family Trust [2012] NZDNC 738

allphones.co.nz - Transferred

The first complainant is the subsidiary of the second complainant. They are involved in telecommunication retailing. The complainant owned the trade mark ALL PHONES in New Zealand since 2004. The complainant had no retail presence in NZ at the time of the decision. The respondent registered the domain name in 2008 and it resolved to a website that advertised a consultancy service.

No response was filed by the respondent. The complainant asserted that it had rights in NZ and the domain name is identical to the trade mark. There was no way for the respondent to use the domain name consistent with the generic descriptive character. The respondent was not known by the name, nor was it legitimately connected.

ALL PHONES is a registered trade mark and was found to be identical to the domain name. The domain name was also found to be confusingly similar to the other trade marks owned by the complainant that contained ALLPHONES. The expert found that the respondent was using the domain name in a way that would likely confuse or mislead users into believing that there is a connection between the two. There had been no genuine offering of goods or services through the domain in the past years before the complaint.

Link to NZLII Decision

http://www.nzlii.org/cgi-bin/sinodisp/nz/cases/NZDNC/2012/738.html?query=NZDNC%20738