Trademark Attorneys Specializing In Cybersquatting, Domain Theft, Domain Disputes & On-Line Brand Protection

Our internet law attorneys specialize in cybersquatting and trademark matters including cybersaquatting, domain disputes, domain name theft, WIPO / NAF arbitration, Uniform Domain Name Dispute (UDRP), Anti-Cybersquatting Act Litigation in Federal Courts across the United States. Don't settle for attorneys who think they can 'figure it out.'  Our trademark and domain dispute attorneys have handled some of the highest profile cybersquatting cases for some of the largest companies in the world.     

 

 Managing Partner Enrico Schaefer: "Traverse Legal's internet law attorneys know trademark and cybersquatting law and pride themselves on advanced litigation techniques which are both cost-effective and budget oriented.  From Stolen domain names to mass cybersquatting, we understand the internet, back-end DNS, ISP and hosting issues at a technical level which allows us to focus on results. There are very few firms that can match our ability to get back-end registry level data in order to put your best leverage in play. We understand the Internet and the technology which drives it.  Because we are a boutique litigation law firm, we know how to strategically and efficiently accomplish our client's goals. "

If you have a trademark, domain name dispute, domain theft or cybersquatting issue, you may contact one of our trademark and domain dispute attorneys for a free evaluation or call 866.936.7447 (International Toll Free).

What Factors Affect a Consumer’s View of Whether a Domain Name is Reputable, and thus Worth Much More Money?

In the paper embedded into this post “Domain Bias in Web Search,” several Microsoft employees and Stanford University researchers seek to establish definitively that a “domain bias” exists on the internet wherein consumers, irrespective of all other factors, will click on a domain name even as all other variables are changed around it.  But what makes a domain name trustworthy to an online consumer of information, products or services? 

However, clicks are fraught with biases. The most widely studied bias is position bias [12, 13], a user’s propensity to click on a search result just because it appears closer to the top of a search results page. Much work has been invested in both establishing the existence of position bias [8, 18], as well as understanding how to remove position bias from click activity [2, 3, 7]. Other biases are also known to exist, for example, snippet attractiveness bias, a user’s propensity to click on a result because the query terms appear in bold in the title multiple times [23].

In this paper, we uncover a new phenomenon in click activity that we call domain bias—a user’s propensity to click on a search result because it comes from a reputable domain, as well as their disinclination to click on a result from a domain of unknown or distrustful reputation. The propensity constitutes a bias as it cannot be explained by relevance or positioning of search results.

Contributory Cybersquatting under the Anitcybersquatting Consumer Protection Act

Welcome to Cybersquatting Law Radio. My name is Attorney Enrico Schaefer, and I specialize in cybersquatting issues, domain disputes, and domain theft.  Today, we are talking about contributory cybersquatting under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.

To Defensively Register Domain Names or Not? - A .XXX Example

Some universities in Michigan chose to defensively register .xxx domain names in order to protect their brand.  Some did not, choosing instead to actively monitor their trademarks and brand online.  The Detroit Free Press domain name article highlights the choice a trademark owner must make.  Should I register domain names defensively in order to protect against cybersquatting, or should I pursue cybersquatters after I identify a violation of trademark rights?  As a domain name attorney and trademark lawyer, there are several considerations I typically discuss with clients.

Trademark Owners Defensive Registration of .XXX Domains

Domain name disputes will certainly increase as the rollout  of .XXX continues forward.  There has been significant controversy about whether companies with registered trademarks should be defensively precluding registration of their brand names during the .XXX Sunrise period.  Our internet law attorneys have advised certain clients to do so. 

One university has taken a defensive approach by registering variations of its university name on the .XXX gTLD.

Lawsuit Filed by Porn Industry against ICANN Over .XXX

Domain name disputes typically occur between trademark owners and domain name registrants over allegations of cybersquatting or between trademark owners and website developers, employees, partners over domain name theft and hijacking.  And this first of its kind litigation case, the pornography industry attorneys have filed a lawsuit directly against ICANN alleging monopolistic conduct, price gouging, anticompetitive behavior and unfair business practices for establishing the .XXX top-level domain name (“TLD”), which is supposed to be the new home of adult content.  Trademark owners are bemoaning the .XXX TLD because of the exorbitant price being charged in order to defensively register your trademarks on the XXX TLD in order to avoid pornographic sites engaged in trademark cybersquatting.  The whole thing smells like a money grab by ICANN.  If a trademark owner fails to register its trademark as a .XXX TLD, the risk of brand harm is real and significant. 

Domain owners are already cashing in on registering solid, generic .XXX domains, and then reselling them for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California is included in full below.  Note the antitrust (Sherman Act) violations alleged in addition to unfair competition. 

Manwin DP vs ICM

Facebook Trademark Infringement Continues To Be A Problem

Facebook Trademark Infringement Update:

Trademark infringement on Facebook and Twitter continue to grow as problems for trademark owners.  Companies who fail to get on the social media juggernaut are now realizing that their company name, brand name or slogan may already have been registered by another Facebook user.  In some instances, the registration of your company name, brand or slogan by a third party may qualify as trademark infringement.  As with all other trademark infringement claims, you need to prove that an average consumer would likely be confused as to source and origin of the goods and services being offered on the Facebook page.  In too many instances, the person who registered your trademark as a Facebook page intended to divert your traffic with full knowledge of your trade mark.

UDRP Filed on 3-Letter Domain

In a recent Domain Name Wire report, Wireless company, Shenzhen AEE Technology Co., has filed a UDRP proceeding for the domain name AEE.com.

The historical Whois information suggests that the owner, Shenzhen AEE Technology Co. had the domain registered and secured through 2005, but somehow lost it.  It very well may be that AEE.com was the subject of domain theft/stolen domain name as result of domain registrant account hacking.  We'll have to see how the UDRP arbitration opinion comes down in order to determine what was being alleged by complainant as to how they lost the domain. 

 

 

Cybersquatting Claims: Defending Allegations of Domain Name and Trademark Cybersquatting

You have been accused by threat letter, lawsuit or UDRP complaint of engaging in trademark cybersquatting.  The penalties for cybersquatting can be serious.  Statutory damages can be awarded under the Anti Cybersquatting Piracy Act (ACPA).  A Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Arbitration could result in forcible transfer of your otherwise valuable domain name to the complainant.

An internet law attorney has sent you a trademark infringement and cybersquatting threat letter demanding that you immediately transfer the domain, identify other domains in your domain portfolio that may infringe the alleged trademark and potentially pay money damages in exchange for a release of liability.  You need to know how to defend yourself against claims of cybersquatting and domain name trademark infringement. 

Play: Cybersquatting Claims: Defending Allegations of Domain Name and Trademark Cybersquatting
(click title to listen)

With: Enrico Schaefer

Sponsored by: Traverse Cybersquatting Law

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Domain Name Disputes Come In Many Flavors

Domain name disputes continue to become more common:

As an internet law attorney specializing in domain name issues, I am always struck by the wide variety of domain name issues which come through our law firm front door.  While cybersquatting domain names and trademark issues have been around for a long time, our lawyers continue to see an increase in other types of domain name disputes.  Many companies do a high percentage of their business on-line.  Some companies do all of their business from the internet.  Yet, few companies protect their domain name assets in a way that reflects the value of those assets to the company.  Here are some of the different types of emails, telephone calls, and referrals which we see on a regular basis:

Massive Facebook Cybersquatting Lawsuit Fails to Stop Bidding on Facebopok.com

Cybersquatting lawsuit not enough to protect typo domain:

Despite Facebook’s cybersquatting lawsuit effort, the typo domain Facebopok.com sold for $1,999 on SnapNames.com, according to TheDomains.com. 

Facebopok.com forwards to f-questionnaire.com, which is clearly a counterfeit site using the same colors, font and facebook logo in order to deceive consumers. 

Facebopok.com:

Just because a registrar allows you to register a domain name, or you are able to pick a domain name up on the aftermarket, doesn’t mean it isn’t domain theft.

Report Domain Theft: The First Stolen Domain Name Database on the Internet

Domain Theft and Stolen Domain Name Update:

Domain theft has been around since the first domain names were registered at the very beginning of the internet.  A domain name can be stolen in a variety of ways.  A domain thief can hack into your email or registrant account and simply take control of the domain name at the registrar level.  An employee, web developer, partner or other person with access to your domain registrant account can simply take control of the domain and move it to their own account.  As an internet lawyer specializing in cyberlaw, I hear about domain theft just about every day. 

Morgan Linton recently launched domaintheft.org, the first internet website where users can upload stolen domain names into a common database, and anyone can search that database to see whether a particular domain name has been reported as stolen.  While domain theft continues to cost companies millions of dollars per year, domaintheft.org is a significant step forward in domain name protection.

If your domain name has been stolen or you are a victim of domain theft, you should enter it into the domaintheft.org database and give one of our internet law attorneys a call.  We can help you understand your options and the cost of getting your domain name back. 

Facebook Files Cybersquatting Lawsuit Regarding 104 Typographical Variations of Facebook.com

Typosquatting is one of the most nefarious forms of cybersquatting.  Companies continue to struggle with the sheer volume of domain names registered by cybersquatters which incorporate all or part of their registered trademarks.  Facebook, which has not been particularly aggressive when it comes to protecting its online brand, just stepped it up a big notch. 

Facebook, Inc.  has sued 23 defendants plus John Does 1-119 for cybersquatting, contributory cybersquatting, trademark infringement, contributory trademark infringement, false designation of origin and contributory false designation, trademark dilution and contributory trademark dilution, breach of contract and tortuous interference with economic advantage.

The complaint can be found below.  Separately, we are posting Exhibit A which is the list of typo domain names which, by virtually any standard, clearly incorporate the Facebook trademark.

Comic Book Company Recovers Stolen Domain Name Under UDRP

Superman recovers stolen domain name from cybersquatter under UDRP:

As reported by The Register last week, DC Comics successfully recovered the domain name manofsteel.com in a decision handed down by the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) under the UDRP.  DC Comics has owned trademark rights to “MAN OF STEEL” since 1999, and “THE MAN OF STEEL” since 1987. The stolen domain name “manofsteel.com” was registered in 2001. 

After panel review, NAF concluded that the stolen domain name was:

Domain Name Lawsuits | Reverse Domain Name Hijacking Leads to Penalty

Reverse domain name hijacking is typically a term used by domain name attorneys in threat letters and responses to threat letters.  Reverse domain hijacking refers to a an entity's attempts to secure a domain name by making false cybersquatting  claims.  Under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), panels have often found that overreaching trademark owners are guilty of reverse domain hijacking.  Other than a ruling in the UDRP decision, there is no monetary damages or penalty for such behavior.  The ACPA does not even expressly recognize reverse domain hijacking.  However, that did not stop a judge from rewarding over $100,000 in cybersquatting case as a penalty in finding reverse domain name hijacking.  The judgment, as posted by domainnamewire.com, was in favor of DigiMedia.com after GoForIt Entertainment attempted to acquire generic domain names based upon a theory that use of "goforit" as a third level domain name constituted cybersquatting.

Homeland Security Seizes 70+ Suspect Domain Names | Copyright Attorneys Blog

Over 70 websites suspected of copyright and trademark infringement violations, the sale of counterfeit goods and illegally shared media content have been shut down by The Department of Homeland Security, with the cooperation of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), according to The Wall Street Journal.