The Animal Welfare Institute of New Zealand v Animal Welfare in New Zealand [2009] NZDNC 399
[2009] - NZDNC - 399
Transferred ; Complainant's Rights ; Unfair Registration ; CMD
awinz.org.nz - Transferred
The complainant is set up to promote the welfare of animals. The identity of the respondent is unclear. The domain name is not active at the time of the decision.
The complainant asserted that it ought to have control over the domain name as it shared the same name as they did. Any use of the domain name by others would be in direct breach of their reputation. The respondent argued that the domain name was available and was not being used by any other party, despite evidence pointing that AWINZ had been registered as a trademark.
The expert was satisfied the complainant had common law rights on AWINZ and that it was identical to the domain name. The expert found that the domain name was an unfair registration based on the fact that it was a blocking registration against a name or mark, disrupting the business of the complainant and the domain name is used in a way that is likely to confuse, mislead, or deceive.