With all the new GTLDs being rolled out by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the question of whether a GTLD can be trademarked has become the big issue. The answer is relatively straightforward. A GTLD cannot...

Attorney Brian A. Hall has successfully defended a UDRP filed against its client concerning the domain names organizingforaction.com and organizingforaction.org. The UDRP Decision to deny the claim matches another earlier, although recent, decision that reached the same result concerning the...

Traverse Legal's cybersquatting law lawyers obtained a statutory damage award under the ACPA on behalf of their client in the amount of $74,500 against Overdrive, Inc., a distributor of digital products such as ebooks, audiobooks, music and videos, for bad...

When you use a service which tends to boilerplate all of your pleadings, you sometimes get what you pay for. CitizenHawk does a variety of different online brand protection activities. But a bunch of what it does is automated and...

A UDRP complaint seeking arbitration to transfer a domain name which you believe is infringing your trademark mark to you and to obtain control of that domain name. A common question we often have is whether or not there is...

Marc Randazza (Complainant) of The Randazza Legal Group wins UDRP action against Cybersquatter Crystal Cox (Respondnent) for the bad faith registration and use of domain names incorporating the Complainant’s personal name. Further, the Respondent, in registering multiple domain names which...

Here are the lessons that we've learned as a result of actually getting out in front of a judge and a jury, and trying these ACPA cases. Number one, they are challenging cases because there's so little case law out...

We’re broadcasting from the International Trademark Association Conference in Washington D.C. Over 9,000 trademark attorneys and in-house counsel from around the world are here to talk about brands, brand protections, trademarks, trademark registration. Today, we’re talking, again, with Anthony Don,...

Now the first thing you need to know is that the ACPA, the Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, has a very limited number of cases that have been decided under it. The language of the statute is fairly clear, but, as...

...the whole concept of cybersquatting is something that's foreign to many people. Maybe, they've never heard the term cybersquatting before. They may register domain names for fun, or maybe even for a living without a high level understanding of cybersquatting...

Cybersquatting law addresses trademark infringement under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP Policy) and the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). But a new law which will directly affect domainers is gaining traction in Washington, D.C.. The Protect IP...

MGM Resorts International files cybersquatting lawsuit in US District Court in Las Vegas against four individuals and two companies for cybersquatting on its casino and poker related domain names such as bellagioonlinepoker.com, circuscircuspoker.com, excaliburpoker.com, luxorpoker.com, mandalaybayonlinepoker.com and ariapoker.com. MGM alleges......

Of all the different forms of intentional bad faith cybersquatting on trademark protected domain names, typosquatting is one that drives trademark owners a bit crazy. Registering a typographical variation of a famous brand name or high-traffic website just does not...

What is cybersquatting? It is a question I hear a lot as an internet lawyer protecting trademark interests across the World Wide Web. Today we are speaking with Attorney Brian Hall so we can all better understand what constitutes 'cybersquatting"...

Is typosquatting worth $100,000 in liability? Harvard University recently performed a study that estimated the amount of profit Google is generating from ad placements on typosquatted domain names. The report alleges that Google potentially earns $500 million a year in...

As of September 7, 2011, owners of registered trademarks can file applications to prevent third parties from registering .XXX domain names containing their trademarks. This initial period, known as the sunrise period, will conclude on October 28, 2011. Applications to...

Cybersquatting cases under the UDRP are up: According to Domain Incite author Kevin Murphy, children toy manufacturer Lego recently passed Microsoft in filed complaints against cybersquatters, reporting that Lego has filed 236 cases under the UDRP since 2006, one more...

Cybersquatting Law Update: Even something as arguably 'passive' as a web site parking page showing advertising links can subject a defendant to personal jurisdiction in another state. Just ask Navigation Catalyst, Epic Media, Connexus, First Look and Basic Fusion. These...

In a recent case decided on April 18, 2011, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s finding of bad faith cybersquatting by defendant as a matter of law and award of $80,000 in statutory damages. The decision...

Despite suffering from Domainer Flu, the gTLD of which is now owned by TuCows' YummyNames (thanks Bill Sweetman), we bring you the top 10 cybersquatting/domain name stores of January 2011: 1. Court allows Microsoft's Claims for Contributory Cybersquatting. The Western...

Cybersquatting and Domain Dispute Update: Grammy performers, Mumford & Sons, latest victum of cybersquatting / typosquatting trademark infringment. Below are results from domaintool's domain typo search tool for the domain nanme mumfordandsons.com: Mufordandsons.com Mumfordandson.com Munfordandsons.com Mumfordandsons.com Mumfordandsons.net Mumforda...

The popular internet newspaper , The Huffington Post, which was recently purchased by AOL for $315 million, has fallen victim of trademark infringement as cybersquatting continues to grow. Check out the full typographical error search result by domaintools.com for the...

Recently deceased fitness guru Jack Lalanne is target of cybersquatters. Check out these web sites, which are typographical variations of the high traffic domain name www.jacklalanne.com and are clearly cybersquatting the famous name and brand: Jacklalannes.org Jacklalann.com Jacklalannes.com Jack-lalanne.com Jacklalane.net...

The Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (“ACPA”) is a statute under the Lanham Act which specifically protects domain names from trademark infringement. What are the elements which must be proven to establish cybersquatting under the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (“ACPA”) creates...

The deal-of-the-day website known as Groupon files a trademark lawsuit against the two Australian brothers, Gabby and Hezi Leibovitch, who started the clone website called Scoopon in Australia. Opportunistic cybersquatter Scoopon purchased the groupon.com.au domain name, registered the company name...

What do you do when your domain name has been stolen but you lack the requisite trademark rights to recover the domain via a domain arbitration under Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) or a lawsuit under the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection...

A recent survey of over 1000 brands owned by Fortune 100 companies show that Brands aren't defensively registering domain names as was originally predicted. Antony Van Couvering discusses the results of the survey in regards to defensive registration and cybersquatting...

Do you know what to do if you feel your trademark rights are being violated by another party? What if you get a notice that someone else thinks you are infringing on their trademark rights? Attorney Brian Hall discusses the...

Social networking service Foursquare has made a common mistake: it allowed its domain name to lapse with registrar GoDaddy. It is unclear whether this was because Foursquare maintained inaccurate WHOIS information, or whether its credit card had expired, but this...

UDRP Arbitrator Sandra Franklin offers her insights on UDRP arbitrations concerning trademarks, domain names, and cybersquatting issues in this Cybersquatting Law Radio interview. Listen or read the interview below. Play: Interview of a UDRP Arbitrator: Domain Name Disputes & UDRP...

Domain speculators and ad words aficionados have started the process of cybersquatting the alleged other women in Tiger Woods's life. Here are the cybersquatting results for Jamee Grubbs, Kalika Moquin, and Rachel Uchitel. Jamie Grubes cybersquatted sites include www.jaimeegrubbs.com (privacy...

Domain News reports that Insure.com has sold for $16 million to QuinStreet. QuinStreet is a vertical media and online marketing company located in Foster City, CA. This sale is the largest publically reported domain name sale of the year and is an indicator that the domain name economy may be showing signs of a turn around.

Our cybersquatting attorneys represent one of the largest premium resort chains in South America and have been in litigation on cybersquatting claims under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act against a travel agency which registered over 20 domain names which include...

The fight over the new .eco top-level domain name suffix has increased over the last few weeks. Dot Eco, a group supported by such environmental heavyweights as the Sierra Club, former Vice President Al Gore, and the Alliance for Climate Protection, has issued a 17-page document criticizing the plan of its competitor for the domain name, Big Room....

According to Markmonitor, cybersquatting continues to be the preferred method of online fraud. Linking a website with a major name brand or trademark, increases the likelihood that consumers will be confused. When consumers fail to understand that they are at...

Eric Goldman is an Associate Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law. He also directs the school's High Tech Law Institute. Before joining the SCU faculty in 2006, he was an Assistant Professor at Marquette University Law...

Get the latest information on trademark issues implicated in the launching of online advertising campaigns, including the purchase of keywords, buying display ads, developing and protecting taglines, and acquiring associated domain names. Moderator: Russell Pangborn, Microsoft Corporation (United States) Speakers:...

DomainFight.net reports the following Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy Proceedings brought by American International Group, Inc. (AIG), on October 8, 2006. DomainTools.com reports the following typographical variations of ?AIGInsurance?, most of which are cybersquatted WIPO typographical variations of the...

A search of the uniform domain name dispute resolution policy decisions by WIPO and NAF of .net domains reveals the following results. It is no surprise that .net domains are heavily cybersquatted along with the .com heavyweight. In many instances,...

The Wall Street Journal has very interesting article on the value of numeric domain names titled What’s In a Name? More and More, a Number Despite Limited Success of Digits, a Numeric Trend Blossoms in Internet Domain Monikers; 10012.com, Anyone?...

Domainfight.net provides the following returns for ?Pluto Domain Services? as a respondent in UDRP arbitrations. There is no question that Pluto Domain Services is a habitual cybersquatter under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. Note the bancopopularpr.com decision specifically...

There has been significant commentary recently on bulletin boards and within the domainer community about Microsoft Corporation's stepped-up online brand protection efforts. Microsoft has been aggressively pursuing any and all domain registrants who have registered domains incorporating any of the...

Are you wondering what Oversee's President Jeff Kupietzky's thinks the opportunities are in this down domain name market? Here is a audio clip of his opening remarks live from DOMAINfest in Hollywood, California. (transcript to follow). Traverse Legla Radio Play...

DN Journal just noted that WIPO disputes have continued to increase over the past five years, linking to an article at pingdom.com. Pingdom notes that domain disputes have doubled since 2003 and that the United States is the origin of...

Vertiospotlight Play Show With expert Jeff Reynolds of Boycott Kentucky Show Sponsor Traverse Legal, PLC Transcript Page Leave a comment Download Podcast (right click-save as) ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Traverse Legal Radio Tech Spotlight. This program is sponsored by Traverse Legal,...

The recent Chillibeans.com panel decision raises some interesting questions. Not apparent in the decision is the fact that the trademark alleged by the complainant is the subject of a cancellation proceeding at the OAIM, Trademark and Design Registration Office of...