PRAGUE — Score another domain name victory for Lovehoney Group Ltd.
The Czech Arbitration Court this week awarded the HoneyLoveToys.com domain name to Lovehoney, the largest sex toy retailer in the U.K.
Lovehoney claimed in the UDRP action that the respondent named in the case, Tom Horton, registered HoneyLoveToys.com last year to intentionally poach its customers. Lovehoney said it had no affiliation with Horton or the website.
HoneyLoveToys.com offers a full lineup of sex toys and novelties and is purportedly operated from China.
Lovehoney, based in Bath, U.K., operates Lovehoney.com and Lovehoney.co.uk online stores. In January, the company was awarded Online Retailer of the Year (Pleasure Products) at the 2017 XBIZ Awards.
In the decision over HoneyLoveToys.com, an arbitrator said that the reverse combination of the first two words as “honeylove” in combination with the word “toys” makes that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to Lovehoney’s registered trademarks in the E.U. and elsewhere.
In the order transferring the domain name to Lovehoney, the arbitrator ruled that the HoneyLoveToys.com domain name was confusingly similar to Lovehoney’s trademark, that the respondent had no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name, and that the domain name was registered and being used in bad faith.
“The panel finds it likely that internet users may be confused by the disputed domain name, and may actually believe that there is a connection between complainant as a trademark owner and respondent as a domain name holder,” the arbitrator said.
Last week, XBIZ reported that Lovehoney Group Ltd. was awarded the Lovehoney.online domain name in a similar case involving an online retail store.
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