GENEVA/LOS ANGELES—The parent company of Clips4Sale was handed a legal victory earlier this week in a trademark infringement case litigated at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Clips4Sale (C4S) initiated proceedings with the specialized United Nations agency through the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center in February. A decision by a WIPO administrative review panel was issued on March 30. The case involved the parent company and rights holder for Clips4Sale, a Cyprus-based company called Muitas Ltd.
The trademark infringement dealt with the owner of the infringing domain at en-clips4sale.com. Counsel representing C4S argued that the domain was meant to impersonate its platform, which is found at www.clips4sale.com. Muitas and C4S identified the owner of the infringing domain as an entity going by "SK Media." SK Media registered the domain through NameCheap, an accredited domain registrar based out of Phoenix, Arizona.
"The complainant (C4S) contends that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the complainant’s trademark; that the respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name; and that the disputed domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith," reads the administrative ruling document obtained by AVN. The decision was drafted and published by the sole panelist who ruled that SK Media had no claim or defense. The document reads, "The respondent (SK Media) did not respond to the complainant’s contention. ... The respondent registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith.
"Registering and using the disputed domain name to imitate the complainant and otherwise hold itself out as operating as the complainant is a clear example of bad faith registration," the decision concluded.
Accordingly, the remedy for the dispute was the transferring of ownership of the infringed domain to C4S and Muitas.
"Any violation of Clips4Sale’s intellectual property will not be tolerated," commented attorney Corey Silverstein, who represented C4S at WIPO.
"The Clips4Sale team and all of their store owners and content creators work tirelessly on their craft," he said. "We will not allow someone else to try to capitalize or engage in piracy on that hard work and commitment."
Lawrence Walters, attorney and registered agent for the platform's intellectual property registered with regulators, added that this was a sound judgment by WIPO.
"This recent decision against en-clips4sale.com is only the latest in a series of WIPO victories against domain infringers by C4S," he said in an email. "No matter where these pirates are located or which domain names they register, we will hunt them down and take their domains."
Walters added, "Online platform operators should similarly protect their trademark rights through aggressive registration and pursuit of infringers. Whenever a brand enjoys the smallest success, infringers will attempt to profit from the brand’s goodwill. Developing an effective trademark enforcement strategy is the best way to deter rampant infringement."
