The court upheld the arbitration award canceling a domain name for being confusingly similar to prior registered domain names, emphasizing the importance of preventing confusion in online commerce.

JUDGMENT (Oral)

1. Under challenge, in this petition preferred under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ("the 1996 Act"), is an award dated 4 May 2021, passed by a learned Sole Arbitrator in arbitral proceedings instituted against the petitioner Quantum University, by the respondent International Quantum University for Integrative Medicine INC before the .IN Registry, under the .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (INDRP).

2. The complaint instituted by the respondent sought cancellation of the domain name www.quantumuniversity.edu.in (in which "quantumuniversity" is known as the "Secondary Level Domain" or "SLD" and ".edu.in" is known as the "Top Level Domain" or "domain extension ") registered in favour of the petitioner on 4 August 2017. The respondent alleged that it was a prior registrant of the domain name www.quantumuniversity.com as well as various other domain names, all of which used the SLD "quantumuniversity" with various extensions, principally quantumuniversity.net, quantumuniversity.org, quantumuniversity.education and quantumuniversity.online. (They shall collectively be referred to as the "quantumuniversity formative domain names"). The domain name of the petitioner, which was www.quantumuniversity.edu.in, alleged the respondent, infringed the respondent's quantumuniversity.com domain name, which was registered prior in point of time, owing to the common "quantumuniversity" SLD. Clause 10 of the INDRP, which envisages cancellation of an infringing domain name was, therefore, pressed into service by the respondent. The impugned award finds the petitioner's domain name www.quantumuniversity.edu. in fact to be infringing the quantumuniversity formative domain names of the respondent, including www.quantumuniversty.com, in all of which "quantumuniversity" was the SLD. Inasmuch as the respondent's quantumuniversity formative domain names were registered prior in point of time to the registration of the domain name www.quantumuniversity.edu.in in favour of the petitioner on 4 August 2017, the respondent was found entitled to the relief sought by it. The impugned award, therefore, concludes thus:

"The Tribunal thus concludes that the domain name "www.quantumuniversity.edu.in" is identified with Complainant's name, mark and services. Therefore, the adoption, registration and use of the disputed domain name by the respondent show bad faith and the same must be cancelled as prayed for. That is the present case squarely falls within the premises of bad faith registration and use, thus fulfilling the condition laid down in clause 4(c) of the INDRP Policy.

VII. DISPOSITIONS

The Arbitral Tribunal holds, that the Respondent's domain name www.quantumuniversity.edu.in is identical and confusingly similar to the name, trademark and brand name "QUANTUM UNIVERSITY" owned by the Complainant. The Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name www.quantumuniversity.edu.in and the same has been registered in bad faith. The three elements set out in paragraph 4 of the INDRP Policy have been established by the Complainant.

Accordingly, and in terms of the INDRP Policy, the Arbitral Tribunal hereby directs that the disputed domain name www.quantumuniversity.edu.in be cancelled."

3. The petitioner, as the proprietor of the domain name www.quantumunversity.edu.in, has assailed the aforesaid award before this Court under Section 34 of the 1996 Act.

Relevant clauses of the INDRP

4. Before proceeding further, it would facilitate matters if the relevant clauses of the INDRP are reproduced:

"1. Definitions

"IN Registry: Wherever used in this policy and the rules hereunder .IN Registry refers to National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), a company registered under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (now Section 8 under Companies Act 2013).

2. Purpose

This .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Policy") sets out the legal framework for resolution of dispute(s) between a domain name Registrant and t