{
    "case_number": "CAC-ADREU-002023",
    "time_of_filling": null,
    "domain_names": [],
    "case_administrator": null,
    "complainant": [],
    "complainant_representative": null,
    "respondent": [],
    "respondent_representative": null,
    "factual_background": "The Complainant is a licensee of a holder of the trade mark “open.xchange”. The Complainant applied on 27 January 2006 for the registration of the domain name “openxchange.eu”. As an evidence of the prior right to “openxchange” an official certificate of the respective trade mark office was submitted together with the License Declaration signed by both the holder of the respective trade mark (Open-Xchange Inc.) and the Complainant as the licensee.\r\n\r\nEURid rejected Complainant’s application for registration of the disputed domain name due to fact that the domain name applied for did not consist of the complete name of the trademark which was submitted as documentary evidence.",
    "other_legal_proceedings": "The Panel is not aware of any legal proceedings which relate to the disputed domain name.",
    "discussion_and_findings": "Article 10 (1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 874\/2004 of 28 April 2004 (Public Policy Rules) states that only holders of prior rights which are recognized or established by national or Community law shall be eligible to apply to register domain names during a period of phased registration before general registration of .eu domain starts.\r\n\r\nArticle 10 (2) of the Public Policy Rules states that the registration on the basis of a prior right shall consist of the registration of the complete name for which the prior right exists, as written in the documentation which proves that such a right exists.\r\n\r\nArticle 11 of the Public Policy Rules states that where the name for which prior rights are claimed contains special characters, spaces, or punctuations, these shall be eliminated entirely from the corresponding domain name, replaced with hyphens, or, if possible, rewritten.\r\n\r\nThe application for the registration of domain name “openxchange.eu” was based on German trademark registration (req.number 30466875.3). The Applicant provided the official certificate of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office together with the License Declaration as the Complainant was the licensee of the holder of the respective trade mark (the holder was company Open-Xchange Ing., U.S.A.) \r\n\r\nAccording to the official certificate the wording of the trade mark is “open.xchange” (“dot” between the words “open” and “xchange”) and not “open-xchange” (“hyphen” between the words “open” and “xchange”) as expected by the EURid. \r\n\r\nThe respective trademark “open.xchange” therefore contains special character (punctuation) which should be eliminated entirely from the corresponding domain name, or replaced with hyphens, or, if possible, rewritten (see Article 11 of the Public Policy Rules). The trademark “open.xchange” therefore constitutes the prior right for registration of the domain name “openxchange” or “open-xchange” or “opendotxchange” - in the last case, the “dot” could be substituted by relevant synonyms (such as “point”) or translation in other languages. In this case, the Applicant decided to eliminate the “.” (the dot) entirely which is one of the equal ways how this special character could be transposed into the domain name.\r\n\r\nTherefore, the ADR Panel is of the meaning that the Applicant has demonstrated a prior right in accordance with the procedure set out in the Public Policy Rules and the Registry (EURid) has been obliged to register the respective domain name applied for by the Applicant. The decision of the Registry (EURid) therefore conflicts with the Public Policy Rules and should be annulled.",
    "decision": "For all the foregoing reasons, in accordance with Paragraphs B12 (b) and (c) of the Rules, the Panel orders that\r\n\r\nthe EURID's decision be annulled.",
    "panelists": [
        null
    ],
    "date_of_panel_decision": "2006-09-22 00:00:00",
    "informal_english_translation": "The Applicant as the licensee of the holder of the trade mark “open.xchange” applied for the registration of domain name openxchange.eu. \r\n\r\nThe Registry (EURid) rejected the application with the argument that the “hyphen” between the “open” and “xchange” words in the trademark is not a special character as stated in the Article 11 of the Public Policy Rules and it is not possible to eliminate the hyphen entirely to register the respective domain name. The Registry argued that hyphens are not excluded from domain names for technical reasons and should, pursuant to article 10 (2) of the Public Policy Rules, be part of the complete name for which the prior right exists. The Registry concluded, that the Applicant was entitled to apply for the registration of domain name “open-xchange.eu” on the basis of trade mark “open-xchange”.\r\n\r\nThe decision of the Registry is based on the misleading reading of the documentary evidence provided by the Applicant. The Applicant applied for the registration of domain name “openxchange.eu” on the basis of the registered trade mark “open.xchange” and not “open-xchange”. The documentary evidence (the official certificate of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office) is very clear in this point.\r\n\r\nThe respective trademark “open.xchange” contains special character (punctuation) which should be eliminated entirely from the corresponding domain name, or replaced with hyphens, or, if possible, rewritten, as required by Article 11 of the Public Policy Rules. In this case, the Applicant decided to eliminate the “.” (the dot) entirely which is one of the equal ways how this special character could be transposed into the domain name.\r\n\r\nTherefore, the decision of the Registry (EURid) not to register the respective domain name was annulled.",
    "decision_domains": [],
    "panelist": null,
    "panellists_text": null
}