WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. v. James Booth, BQDN.com Case No. D2019-1042 1. The Parties

The Complainant is Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., United States of America (“USA”), represented by Carey Rodriguez Milian Gonya, LLP, USA.

The Respondent is James Booth, BQDN.com, United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), represented by Muscovitch Law P.C., Canada. 2. The Domain Name and Registrar

The disputed domain name is registered with GoD, LLC (the “Registrar”). 3. Procedural History

The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on May 6, 2019. On May 7, 2019, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On May 7, 2019, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that the Respondent is listed as the registrant and providing the contact details. On May 9, 2019, the Respondent sent an informal email communication to the Center.

The Center verified that the Complaint satisfied the formal requirements of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy” or “UDRP”), the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Rules”), and the WIPO Supplemental Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Supplemental Rules”).

In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2 and 4, the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on May 15, 2019. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was June 4, 2019. On May 27, 2019, the Respondent requested an automatic four-day extension period to file a Response. The Response was filed with the Center on June 8, 2019.

The Center appointed Andrew D. S. Lothian, Michael A. Albert and Adam Taylor as panelists in this matter on July 3, 2019. The Panel finds that it was properly constituted. Each member of the Panel has submitted the Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence, as required by the Center to ensure compliance with the Rules, paragraph 7. 4. Factual Background

The Complainant is a limited company with a place of business in Miami, Florida, USA. The Complainant is the owner of USA registered trademark No. 1667873 for the word mark ROYAL CARRIBEAN CRUISES LTD. registered on December 10, 1991 for cruise ship services and transportation of passengers by ship in international class 39. The Complainant also claims unregistered trademark rights in the initialism corresponding to its ROYAL CARRIBEAN CRUISES LTD. registered mark, namely RCCL. The Complainant uses the domain name for all of its employees’ email addresses and for communications to and from the Complainant’s consumers. Said domain name redirects web users to the Complainant’s website at “”. According to the WhoIs record, said domain name was created on March 6, 1995 although the Complainant does not say whether it is the original registrant or for how long it has used such domain name.

The Respondent is a domain name broker, specializing in valuable three-character domain names, who brokers domain names for others and on his own account. He was among the winners of the “2019 Master of Domains Awards” announced at NamesCon 2019 in Las Vegas in recognition of being one of the ten highest-grossing individual domain name brokers in 2018 and received a similar award in 2018. The 2019 citation states that since 2015 the Respondent has brokered over 250 three-letter and several two-letter “.com” domain names. The Respondent has received media recognition in connection with his brokerage activities in the aftermarket for domain names.

The disputed domain name was originally registered on July 29, 1992 by a third party. The Respondent purchased the disputed domain name from a global engineering firm on or about September 16, 2016 for a five-figure USD sum. Said firm no longer required the disputed domain name following a corporate acquisition of the original registrant, which had used the disputed domain name from 1992 to 2015.

The disputed domain name currently resolves to a parking page containing the following message: “RCC.com is listed for sale!” The Respondent states that on or about March 25, 2019, he turned on email for the disputed domain name and noted that it received emails intended for the Complainant, among other parties. The Respondent proceeded to hire a broker to reach out to the Complainant. Said broker corresponded with a member of the Complainant’s staff between April 12, 2019, and April 16, 2019.

On April 15, 2019, the Respondent’s broker sent an email to a member of the Complainant’s staff which contained what appeared to be several mis-addressed communications from the Complainant’s customers. Said broker’s email stated, inter alia, “Do you want me to continue to forward these emails? / I think you have a major problem here, not just because of the confusion from your customers not getting their emails answered but also email security. At some point RCC.com is going to sell and the new owners may not be as nice to forward your info. / Let me know if you have time to talk this week.” Said Complainant’s staff member states in an Affidavit of May 6, 2019, that the email correspondence forwarded by the Respondent’s broker contained confidential information pertaining to the Complainant’s guests and business operations, which had been obtained by the Respondent. The Affidavit also states the said staff member telephoned the Respondent’s broker on April 16, 2019 to discuss the potential sale of the disputed domain name in exchange for USD 250,000. 5. Parties’ Contentions A. Complainant

The Complainant contends that the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which it has rights, that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name, and that the disputed domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith.

The Complainant claims common law rights in the RCCL mark on the basis of long and substantial use in connection with the advertising of vacation services and merchandise, pointing to an article regarding a train transfer service offered by the Complainant in Alaska which refers to it as “RCCL”, a bag available for sale online in the Complainant’s “Royal Gifts” collection, described as an “RCCL canvas tote bag”, and a Google search for “RCCL”, the first two pages of which yield links and webpages associated with or related to the Complainant and its services. The Complainant specifically notes that one of the search results refers to a search for the term “#RCCL” on the “” website which the Complainant demonstrates returns images relating to the Complainant and its cruise ships. The Complainant also notes that users of the “Twitter” service also refer to the Complainant’s business by way of the same hashtag. The Complainant asserts that the general public recognizes the RCCL mark as an identifier for the Complainant’s goods and services.

The Complainant submits that a grammatical analysis of the disputed domain name shows its incorporation of the first three letters of the Complainant’s RCCL mark, adding that a visual and phonetic comparison also weigh heavily in favor of a finding of confusing similarity. The Complainant notes that the disputed domain name is missing only one consonant at the end of the Complainant’s mark and otherwise is identical. The Complainant adds that the Respondent’s broker admitted to the Complainant that consumers regularly confuse the disputed domain name for the Complainant’s domain name, as subsequently evidenced by various emails. The Complainant says that consumers commonly mistake the registered mark “Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.” as “RCC”.

The Complainant asserts that the RCCL mark has no meaning other than to identify the Complainant as the source of cruise ship and vacation services, adding that this is an abbreviation of its ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD. mark. The Complainant submits that the Respondent is neither a licensee of the Complainant nor is otherwise authorized to use its RCCL mark for any purpose, nor is commonly known as “RCC”. The Complainant sets out the history of the disputed domain name from 1992 to 2015, and evidences a redirection of Internet users from the disputed domain name to another domain name connected with the previous owner of the disputed domain name on March 13, 2016, followed by a redirection to a different domain name used by the Respondent on October 3, 2016.

The Complainant asserts that the Respondent has not established that it will use the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services, noting that the Respondent is only offering the disputed domain name for sale. The Complainant argues that this warrants a finding of a lack of legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.

The Complainant notes that it is an overarching goal of the Policy to curb abusive registration of domain names where the registrant seeks to profit from and exploit the trademark of another, asserting that bad faith is evident in the present case. The Complainant states that the website associated with the disputed domain name only offers it for sale and makes no other commercial use, adding that bulk domain purchasers have an affirmative obligation to avoid the registration of trademark-abusive domain names. The Complainant asserts that the Respondent is engaging in a scheme of abusive registration and acquisition of domain names, primarily to profit from and exploit the Complainant’s RCCL mark, citing the correspondence between the Complainant and the Respondent’s broker. The Complainant adds that bad faith is also shown by the Respondent’s configuration of an email server to capture mis-sent emails by the Complainant’s customers and by its holding of such information, which included confidential data, for ransom.

The Complainant describes the Respondent’s actions as an “extortion scheme” and a “typosquatting scheme” which demonstrate bad faith through its offering of the disputed domain name for sale in exchange for a price of USD 250,000, being considerably in excess of its out-of-pocket costs. B. Respondent

The Respondent requests that the Complaint be denied. The Respondent sets out his credentials in domain name brokerage and states that he registered the disputed domain name because he is a well-established broker specializing in high value three-letter domain names and saw value in the disputed domain name because it corresponded to countless actual and potential meanings as an acronym.

The Respondent produces evidence that “RCC” is an acronym for all manner of things and that at least 50 meanings are mentioned by “”. The Respondent states that the Complainant is among the most remote parties that would have any rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name given the absence of corresponding registered trademark rights. The Respondent provides evidence from the WIPO Global Brand Database that there are over 350 trademarks registered all over the world for RCC, both before and after the Respondent registered the disputed domain name. The Respondent argues that this demonstrates that the disputed domain name is particularly apt and corresponds to an acronym adopted by existing users and subsequent new entrants to the marketplace. The Respondent expands his evidence of the number of users of the “RCC” acronym with reference to the volume of corresponding trademarks registered in the USA, company names registered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, names of corporations registered in the states of New York and California, USA, Canadian entity names and trademarks, company names on the website “” and various searches on the Google search engine. The Respondent provides evidence of multiple third party inquiries to purchase the disputed domain name over the course of the Respondent’s ownership, including an offer for a five-figure USD sum, and states that this confirms the disputed domain name’s widespread appeal.

The Respondent submits that it has never used the disputed domain name for any infringing activity and that it was not until about March 26, 2019, being two and a half years following its acquisition, that the Respondent contacted the Complainant via its agent, following the switching on of email. The Respondent states that most errant email received was not for the Complainant and provides a list, adding that the majority was intended for an Australian company and that some email was intended for the previous owner of the disputed domain name.

The Respondent asserts that the Complainant has offered rather meager evidence of its usage of