D3 <> DThree
D3 LED LLC of Rancho Cordova, California, filed a UDRP against the registrant of the domain DThree.co, alleging it interferes with its D3 mark.
The Respondent is a company in Bahrain, named Digital Data Dimensions. Sometimes, it refers to itself as D3.
Digital Data Dimensions engages in business in the US, UAE, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other countries through partners and not under the name D3.
Furthermore, the Respondent’s company changed focus this year:
“In early 2016, the full ownership and management of D3 was changed, references to the USA and UAE were removed from the website and the company is now purely Bahraini with no partnership outside of Bahrain. This was formally registered and the intention was announced in the Arabic Official Newspaper. Copies of the Establishment Registration Certificate in the name of Digital Data Dimensions IT Solution, and of the Arabic Official Newspaper (in Arabic) were appended.”
In order to establish the lack of a strong trademark, the panelist performed extensive searches, both at the USPTO and the British databases:
“The Panel found that a search of the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) for “D3” returned 170 records of USPTO trademark applications or registrations comprising or incorporating D3.”
Another 90 instances of “D3” marks were found in the British trademark database, UKIPO.
Meanwhile, the panelist noted that the effective component of the disputed domain name, “dthree”, consists of a generic string that also evokes no possible indication of the goods, services, name or trademark to which it might refer.
The Complainant’s claims were thus denied, and the sole panelist ordered the domain DThree.co to remain with the Respondent.
For the full text of the UDRP, click here.
