Carlton Haulage Limited v John Burrill [2008] NZDNC 340
[2008] - NZDNC - 340
Transferred ; Complainant's Right ; Unfair Registration ; CMD
carltonhaulage.co.nz - Transferred
The complainant is in the business of providing water to locations across the Pohutukawa Coast. The respondent is in a similar business and had been trading as the Waterman. The disputed domain name was registered in 2008.
The complainant relied on the fact that it had been using the business name in its advertisement and business operations. It argued the registration was unfair because it was used in a manner that was likely to confuse, mislead or deceive people into thinking that the domain name was associated with the complainant. The respondent argued that the complainant was in contract with another entity that was a direct competitor of the respondent. This business registered a domain name that conflicted with the respondent's business name.
The respondent claimed that the complainant and its associate were in fact trading on the respondent's reputation. The complainant argued that the conflict between the respondent and the associate had nothing to do with the current issue with the complainant.
The expert found there were common law rights in CARLTON HAULAGE and it was identical to the domain name. By Registering a domain name that bears the name of the owner of a business, that would certainly lead to confusion where users would be deceived into thinking that the domain name is registered by the complainant or at least in association.