Someone Registered my Personal Name as a Domain Name

Did someone register your personal name as a domain name? You may have a cause of action against that person for a violation of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), sometimes known as domain squatting a personal name. What is the ACPA? The ACPA is a federal law enacted in 1999 used to prevent people from… READ MORE

Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act vs. UDRP

Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) vs. UDRP: differences between a domain name dispute under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy versus one under the Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act which is a federal statute. Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Under the UDRP a complainant has to prove three elements. The first is that… READ MORE

Here is How to Fix the UDRP

Today at Namescon I had the pleasure of watching three of my esteemed colleagues, Nat Cohen of Telepathy, Inc., Jason Schaeffer of Esqwire.com, and Zak Muscovitch of DNAttorney.com, examine three of the most shocking UDRP decisions of 2016. These decisions involved overreaching trademark owners, extraterritorial trademark rights, and panelist conflict of interests. In listening to… READ MORE

What is cybersquatting? Cybersquatting, as defined by the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1125(d)): is the registration, trafficking in, or use of a domain name that is either identical or confusingly similar to a distinctive trademark or is confusingly similar to or dilutive of a famous trademark. In simpler terms, cybersquatting occurs where one… READ MORE

The Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act allows victims of cybersquatters to bring claims in federal court and recover damages. Plaintiffs must show, among other things, bad faith on the part of the cybersquatter to use Plaintiff’s mark in order to profit. Such a showing is even required in in rem cases where the defendant may not be… READ MORE

ICANN’s new Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) is a domain dispute resolution and rights protection mechanism that is intended to complement the existing Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. The Uniform Rapid Suspension System is intended to serve as a lower cost dispute resolution mechanism for trademark owners faced with clear trademark rights violations, and… READ MORE

Former US Representative from Texas Ron Paul has lost a domain dispute filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to obtain the ronpaul.com domain name. The ronpaul.com domain name was held by a group of supporters of Ron Paul’s political views, which even offered to transfer the domain name to the former Representative for… READ MORE

Most of us have grown up with the word “.com” serving as a piece of our every day vernacular. We have seen that three-letter word placed upon highway billboards, we have had it stuck in our head due to lovably-annoying television jingles, and, most obviously, and we have felt comfortable with it occupying the small… READ MORE

The number of cybersquatting cases handled by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) increased 5% in the last year to reach a record 2,884 filed cases. According to WIPO’s director general Francis Curry, the majority of the cybersquatting cases were filed in the areas of retail, fashion, banking, and finance. The United States was responsible… READ MORE

Burger King has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in Russia against a Moscow-based individual to recover the burgerking.su and burger-king.su domain names. Burger King also seeks 500,000 rubles in compensation for the unlawful registration of the domain names. This amount, which translates into approximately $16,000 US Dollars, is significantly lower than the potential remedies under… READ MORE