Expedia Inc. and Hotels.com LP, owners of the EXPEDIA and HOTELS.COM marks, respectively, filed a UDRP complaint against a Dubai tour operator and registrant of the disputed domain names, expedia.co.ae and hotels.co.ae. The domain names routed to websites which displayed similar logos to those of the complainants, and mimicked the overall “look and feel” of the complainants’ websites. Expedia Inc. and Hotels.com LP contended that the disputed domain names were confusingly similar to their well known trade marks and that the domain names were chosen in bad faith; the WIPO Arbitration Panel agreed. The Panel noted that although hotels.co.ae may appear to have been a generic selection, the duplication of Hotels.com’s content and logos intended to target the complainant rather than reference a generic meaning. According to the Panel, this duplication of content and logos went well beyond mere coincidence and intentionally attracted internet users to the websites by creating a likelihood of confusion with complainant’s marks as to the source, affiliation or endorsement of the disputed websites. The Panel ordered expedia.co.ae and hotels.co.ae to be transferred to the complainants. (wipo.int; Case no. DAE2014-0005, 4 November 2014)
