The Respondent accepts that the Domain Name is similar to the Complainants’ well-known trade mark, but denies that it is confusingly similar to that trade mark. She contends that it will be obvious to all that her use of the name, Hairy Winston, is a playful variation of the Complainants’ famous trade mark. One of her dogs, a hairy dog, is named Winston. She selected the name, Hairy Winston, for her ‘luxury pet boutique’ business to make playful use of the name of the dog and the Complainants’ trade mark. She acknowledges and intends that the name will bring the name of the Complainants to mind, but not in a context likely to lead to any confusion. As she puts it, “thus, the name playfully suggests to the customer both high-quality goods and an incongruous association with the hairy canine world.”

The Panel is satisfied that the Respondent’s intention in registering and using the Domain Name as she has was to parody the Complainants’ famous name and trade mark and that she was justified in believing that the parody would successfully differentiate the parody from the original such as to obviate any significant risk of confusion or deception. In such circumstances it would be perverse to categorise the Respondent’s intentions when she registered the Domain Name as bad faith intentions for the purposes of the Policy. The Policy is intended to address clear cases of cybersquatting, and whatever else the present case may be, it is not that.

The decision can be viewed here.