Decision for dispute CAC-UDRP-105583

The Panel is not aware of any other legal proceedings which are pending or decided and which relate to the disputed domain name.

International Trademark  ARCELORMITTAL, reg. no 947686, reg. date August 3, 2007. 

ARCELORMITTAL is a company specialized in steel producing in the world (see www.arcelormittal.com).

The Complainant is the largest steel producing company in the world and is the market leader in steel for use in automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging with 69.1 million tons crude steel made in 2021. It holds sizeable captive supplies of raw materials and operates extensive distribution networks.

The Complainant owns an important domain names portfolio, such as the domain name <arcelormittal.com> registered since January 27, 2006.

The disputed domain name <arcelormittql.com> was registered on June 22, 2023 and resolves to a registrar parking page with commercial links.

The Complainant contends that the requirements of the Policy have been met and that the disputed domain name should be transferred to it.

No administratively compliant Response has been filed.

The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy).

The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the Respondent to have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the Policy).

The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the disputed domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy).

The misspelling of the Complainant’s trademark ARCELORMITTAL® (i.e. the substitution of
the letter “A” by the letter “Q”) is referred to as typosquatting. It is intended to create confusing
similarity between the Complainant’s trademark and the disputed domain name. Previous panels have
found that the slight spelling variations does not prevent a domain name from being confusing similar to
the Complainant’s trademark. Please see WIPO Case No. D2020-3457, ArcelorMittal (Société
Anonyme) v. Name Redacted <arcelormltal.com> 

The Panel is satisfied that all procedural requirements under UDRP were met and there is no other reason why it would be inappropriate to provide a decision.

The Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name <arcelormittql.com> and he is not related in any way with the Complainant. The Complainant does not carry out any activity for, nor has any business with the Respondent.
Neither license nor authorization has been granted to the Respondent to make any use of the
Complainant’s trademark ARCELORMITTAL®, or apply for registration of the disputed domain name
by the Complainant.
The disputed domain name is a typosquatted version of the trademark ARCELORMITTAL®. Typosquatting is the practice of registering a domain name in an attempt to take advantage of Internet users’ typographical errors and can evidence that a respondentlacks rights and legitimate interests in the domain name.  (see Forum Case No. 1597465, The
Hackett Group, Inc. v. Brian Herns / The Hackett Group). 

The aim of Complainant´s trademark when registering the domain name is obvious. The Panel therefore concludes that the domain name was registered in bad faith.

The disputed domain name resolves to a registrar parking page with commercial links. Past panels have found it is not a bona fide offering of goods or services or legitimate non-commercial or fair use.

The Respondent did not provide any contentions or any evidence suggesting that it will use the domain name in good faith. This lack of response coupled with obvious typosquatting practice is sufficient to conclude that the disputed domain name is being used in bad faith.