Simba Sleep Limited v Liqun Wang [2018] NZDNC 1272
[2018] - NZDNC - 1272
Dismissed ; Complainant's Rights
simbasleep.co.nz - Dismissed
The complainant is a UK company that held the trade mark SIMBA in UK. An application had been filed for SIMBA in New Zealand but it was not determined at the time of the investigation. The respondent registered the domain name which resolves to a holding page that advertised the sale of the domain name.
The complainant claimed that the registration is an unfair registration as it contained the famous name and registered trade mark.
The mark SIMBA is registered overseas but not in NZ. The registration in NZ is still at the application stage and there is no evidence of its activities in NZ. When considering whether there is an unregistered right, the expert considered whether rights from overseas would be sufficient to meet paragraph 3's requirement of rights.
The expert found that if the complainant does not have enforceable rights in NZ, it should show that its operation overseas has at least a reputation in NZ or that there are some special circumstances that would give them a claim to rights in the domain name.