Panel Decision for dispute CAC-ADREU-008927

The Panel is not aware of any other legal proceedings which are pending or decided and which relate to the disputed domain name.

The Complainant is Michael Guiney Limited, an Irish private limited company incorporated on 4 June 1971 (CRO Registration Number 34465), with its registered office at 11-12 North Earl Street, Dublin 1, Ireland. The Complainant trades under the name "Guineys" and operates 13 retail stores across Ireland and Northern Ireland, a central warehouse, and an e-commerce website at www.guineys.ie. The company employs over 200 staff and has an annual turnover of approximately €24 million.

The Complainant is the registered proprietor of the following trademark:

• Irish Trade Mark Registration No. 257021 for the mark "Get it at GUINEYS" (word and device), registered on 27 March 2017 and subsequently renewed, in Class 35 (retail services relating to clothing, fabrics, footwear, furnishings, furniture, and online retail store services).

The Complainant has also established extensive unregistered rights in the name "Guineys" through its registered company name under the Irish Companies Act 2014 and through over 50 years of continuous, well-known trading under the name "Guineys" throughout Ireland, Northern Ireland, and internationally.

The disputed domain name <guineys.eu> was registered by the Respondent. In January 2025, the Complainant became aware of an email account operating under the disputed domain name (info@guineys.eu), which was actively being used to impersonate the Complainant's business and real personnel at international trade fairs.

The Respondent failed to submit a response within the deadline specified under the ADR Rules.

In order for the Complaint to succeed, the Complainant must show that:

1. The disputed domain name is identical with or confusingly similar to a name in respect of which a right is established by Union or national law;
2. The disputed domain name has been registered by its holder without rights or legitimate interest in the name;
3. The disputed domain name has been registered or is being used in bad faith.

If the Complainant succeeds in this respect, in order to obtain a transfer of the disputed domain name, the Complainant must further satisfy the general eligibility criteria for registration set out in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2019/517.

1. Identical or Confusing Similarity of the Disputed Domain Name

The Panel finds that the disputed domain name <guineys.eu> is identical to the dominant and distinctive element of the trademark "Get it at GUINEYS", in respect of which the Complainant has established prior rights recognized by national and EU law. Furthermore, it is identical to the Complainant's established unregistered trading name and company name "Guineys."

As regards the question of identity or confusing similarity, it is the panel’s view that for assessing identity or confusing similarity, the .eu suffix has to be disregarded. Concerning the comparison, the panel's review consists of a direct comparison between the disputed domain name and the name for which a right is recognized or established ("CAC .EU Overview 2.0", Section III. 1).

The textual core of the disputed domain name is "guineys", which reproduces exactly the dominant text element of the Complainant's registered trademark and its entire corporate identity. Therefore, the Panel finds that the first condition is fully satisfied.

2. Legitimate Interest in the Disputed Domain Name

There is no evidence before the Panel to suggest that the Respondent has at any time used the disputed domain name, or a name corresponding to it, in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services, or that the Respondent has made any demonstrable preparations to do so. Neither is there any indication that the Respondent is making legitimate non-commercial or fair use of the disputed domain name.

The evidence submitted by the Complainant demonstrates that the disputed domain name is actively being used as part of a fraudulent scheme to impersonate the Complainant's business. Specifically, the domain was configured to operate the email address info@guineys.eu, which was used alongside fabricated business cards at the Heimtex trade fair at Messe Frankfurt in January 2025. An unknown individual used these tools to pose as a genuine manager of the Complainant (David O'Brien) to illicitly secure credit orders from suppliers (such as Aoka Textiles) using the Complainant’s commercial reputation.

The Panel accepts that the use of a domain name for the sole purpose of business impersonation and phishing/credit fraud cannot confer any rights or legitimate interests on a respondent. Furthermore, the Respondent is not affiliated with the Complainant, has not been authorized or licensed to use the "Guineys" mark, and the WHOIS data does not suggest that the Respondent is commonly known by the disputed domain name.

Against this background, and absent any response from the Respondent, the Panel concludes that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name.

3. Bad Faith Registration and Use

Paragraph B11(d)(1)(b) and B11(e) of the ADR Rules dictate that bad faith can be established where a domain name is intentionally used to create a likelihood of confusion for commercial gain or deceptive purposes.

The undisputed evidence shows that the Respondent selected and registered the domain name <guineys.eu> with full knowledge of the Complainant’s well-known 50-year-old Irish retail business. The creation of email addresses designed to mimic the Complainant's legitimate <guineys.ie> domain, coupled with the distribution of physical fake business cards exploiting the Complainant's exact corporate details, logo, and employee names, demonstrates a highly coordinated effort to deceive third-party trade exhibitors.

The clear intent of this scheme was to exploit the Complainant's corporate creditworthiness to fraudulently obtain physical goods without payment. This constitutes an egregious manifestation of registration and use in bad faith.

For all the foregoing reasons, in accordance with Paragraphs B12 (b) and (c) of the Rules, the Panel orders that the domain name <guineys.eu> be transferred to the Complainant