King Ranch, Inc. v. King Ranch, Inc.
Claim Number: FA0512000605560
PARTIES
Complainant is King Ranch, Inc. (“Complainant”),
represented by Paul C. Van Slyke, of Locke Liddell & Sapp, LLP, 600 Travis, Suite 3400, Houston, TX 77002. Respondent is King Ranch, Inc. (“Respondent”), represented by Paul C. Van Slyke, of Locke Liddell & Sapp, LLP, 600 Travis, Suite
3400, Houston, TX 77002.
REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME
The domain name at issue is <kingranchpurses.com>,
registered with Compana, Llc.
PANEL
The undersigned certifies that he has acted independently and
impartially and to the best of his knowledge has no known conflict in serving
as Panelist in this proceeding.
Timothy
D. O’Leary as Panelist.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum
electronically on December 7, 2005; the National Arbitration Forum received a
hard copy of the Complaint on December 7, 2005.
On December 12, 2005, Compana, Llc confirmed by e-mail to the National
Arbitration Forum that the <kingranchpurses.com>
domain name is registered with Compana, Llc and that the Respondent is the
current registrant of the name. Compana,
Llc has verified that Respondent is bound by the Compana, Llc registration
agreement and has thereby agreed to resolve domain-name disputes brought by
third parties in accordance with ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution
Policy (the “Policy”).
On December 16, 2005, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative
Proceeding (the “Commencement Notification”), setting a deadline of January 5,
2005 by which Respondent could file a Response to the Complaint, was
transmitted to Respondent via e-mail, post and fax, to all entities and persons
listed on Respondent’s registration as technical, administrative and billing
contacts, and to postmaster@kingranchpurses.com by e-mail.
A timely Response was received and determined to be complete on December
27, 2005.
On January 6, 2006, pursuant to Complainant’s request
to have the dispute decided by a single-member
Panel, the National Arbitration Forum
appointed Timothy D. O’Leary as Panelist.
PROCEDURAL
ISSUE
It appears from the Complaint that Complainant and Respondent are the same person. Before the Complaint was filed, the WHOIS database indicated the Registrant of the disputed domain name as “Manila Industries, Inc.” After the Complaint was filed, the WHOIS information for the disputed domain name was changed to Complainant’s name, “King Ranch, Inc.” Thus, Complainant responded to its own Complaint as Respondent and consented to transfer of the disputed domain name. I find that in a circumstance such as this, where Respondent has agreed to comply with Complainant’s request, it is appropriate to forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order the transfer of the domain name. See Boehringer Ingelheim Int’l GmbH v. Modern Ltd. – Cayman Web Dev., FA 133625 (Nat. Arb. Forum Jan. 9, 2003) (transferring the domain name registration where the respondent stipulated to the transfer); see also Malev Hungarian Airlines, Ltd. v. Vertical Axis Inc., FA 212653 (Nat Arb. Forum Jan. 13, 2004) (“In this case, the parties have both asked for the domain name to be transferred to the Complainant . . . Since the requests of the parties in this case are identical, the Panel has no scope to do anything other than to recognize the common request, and it has no mandate to make findings of fact or of compliance (or not) with the Policy.”); see also Disney Enters., Inc. v. Morales, FA 475191 (Nat. Arb. Forum June 24, 2005) (“[U]nder such circumstances, where Respondent has agreed to comply with Complainant’s request, the Panel felt it to be expedient and judicial to forego the traditional UDRP analysis and order the transfer of the domain names”).
DECISION
Respondent has no objection to the relief
sought by Complainant and specifically consents to the transfer of the domain
name <kingranchpurses.com> from
Respondent to Complainaint
Accordingly, it is Ordered that the <kingranchpurses.com> domain name
be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to
Complainaint.
Timothy D. O’Leary, Panelist
Dated: January 17, 2006
National
Arbitration Forum