Real estate developer Donald Trump filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center against Fountainhead Entertainment, challenging their registration of the domain name “trumpice.com.” The complaint asserted that (1) the domain name in question is identical to Complainant’s TRUMP ICE brand of bottled water; and (2) Respondent has no “rights or legitimate interests” in the domain name, and (3) that it purchased the domain name in “bad faith.”
The Respondent did not contest the first assertion. However, Respondent argued that it had a legitimate interest in the domain name in connection with creating and marketing a new online bridge game it had not yet released, called “Trump Ice: Grand Slam 32.” Furthermore, Respondent claimed that the fact that the name of its planned service was similar to Complainant’s mark was “strictly coincidental.”
In a ruling on October 25, 2004, the mediator found in favor of the Complainant, because Respondent knew of the TRUMP ICE mark and that Complainant used the TRUMP name in connection with card games , and because Respondent did not make a bona fide offering of goods and services in connection with domain. From these two findings the mediator inferred the purchase of the domain was not in good faith, and that there was a bad faith intent to profit from customer confusion.
The mediator ordered the transfer of the domain name “trumpice.com” from Respondent to Complainant.