General Motors wins domain name case

General Motors,the largest U.S. automaker has recently won a domain name case at the World Intellectual Property Organization against Shenzhen Belding Golf Planning Co. . General Motors,also known as GM filed a complaint with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center ,requesting the cadillacgolf.com domain name to be transferred from the respondent to the complainant.
The complainant is the owner of the registration for the trade mark "Cadillac" .Therefore,the complainant contended that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to its trademark.
Moreover,the complainant contended that the respondent registered and used the domain name in bad faith.
"In using the disputed domain name, and by offering for sale goods that are sold by the Complainant under the Trade Mark, the Respondent has intentionally attempted to attract for commercial gain Internet users to the Website, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant’s mark. As such, it may be inferred that the Respondent intentionally registered the disputed domain name to trade off the goodwill and reputation of the Complainant."
In defense,the respondent contended that in China the word "Cadillac" is the name of a person and not a "distinctive and proprietary English word."
Moreover,the respondent applied for registration of the "Cadillac Snake Eyes" trademark in China and still expects this application will proceed to registration
All in all,the Panel ordered the disputed domain name to be transferred from the respondent to the complainant.