Clips4Sale.com (C4S) has prevailed in an action filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as the WIPO panel hearing the complaint determined that the “confusingly similar” domain Clips4Slae.com was registered and used in bad faith.
A complaint regarding Clips4Slae was filed with the WIPO arbitration and mediation center on January 6, 2022. Adult industry attorney Corey D. Silverstein, the driving force behind MyAdultAttorney.com and Adult.Law, represented C4S in the matter.
“On the basis of the evidence and arguments submitted, the Panel finds that the Complainant makes out a prima facie case that the Respondent is not, and has never been, an authorized reseller, service provider, licensee or distributor of the Complainant, is not a good faith provider of goods or services under the disputed domain name and is not making a legitimate noncommercial use or fair use of the disputed domain name,” the panel wrote in its decision. “The Panel also notes that the Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name. As such, the Panel finds that the burden of production regarding this element shifts to the Respondent (see WIPO Overview 3.0, section 2.1).”
The panel also noted that the respondent in the case, who registered the Clips4Slae.com domain on October 8, 2020, “did not provide any Response or evidence in this administrative proceeding.”
As for the question of whether the disputed domain name had been used in bad faith, the panel observed that the domain “currently redirects to the website that displays pay-per-click hyperlinks to dating and sexually explicit content.”
“This shows that the Respondent is misleading and diverting consumers for commercial gain to such website by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant’s marks,” the panel wrote. “This constitutes evidence of bad faith of the Respondent under paragraph 4(b) of the Policy and leads the Panel to conclude that the Respondent is also using the disputed domain name in bad faith, to take unfair advantage of the Complainant’s trademarks.”
Silverstein said he’s “very pleased with WIPO’s decision in this matter.”
“In this particular case, the registrant erroneously believed that it could hide in China,” Silverstein added. “Brazen attempts to steal someone else’s intellectual property is not tolerable, and Clips4Sale will not hesitate to act to protect its brand and users.”
To download and read the WIPO panel’s decision in full, click here.
Silverstein is the managing and founding member of Silverstein Legal. His practice focuses on representing all areas of the adult industry. Silverstein is also the founder of subscription service Adult.Law. Those interested in subscribing to Adult.Law’s services can learn more about subscription tiers here: adult.law/subscriptions/. You can follow Silverstein on Twitter @myadultattorney and on Instagram @coreydsilverstein.
