NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for Week Ending May 02, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). There are 38 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 34 domains were transferred after findings of cybersquatting, 3 UDRP complaints were denied, and 1 resulted in a cancellation.

Continue reading "NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for Week Ending May 02, 2008"

WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for the week ending May 02, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). There are 27 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 19 domains were transferred after findings of cybersquatting, 8 UDRP complaints were denied.

Continue reading "WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for the week ending May 02, 2008"

What is Trademark Infringement, Cybersquatting, Dilution? Check out Citizen Media Law Project Legal Guide

Citizen Media Law Project's Legal Guide now has a resource for trademark and cybersquatting.

CMLP Launches New Legal Guide Section on Intellectual Property | Citizen Media Law Project

# Trademark Infringement: Trademark infringement happens when you use a trademark owner's trademark or a similar mark in a way that is likely to confuse the public into believing that the trademark owner is the source or sponsor of your products or services. This is the most common type of trademark claim, and it effectuates trademark's primary purpose of avoiding consumer confusion. See What Trademark Covers for details.

# Trademark Dilution: Trademark dilution happens when you use a trademark owner's famous trademark in a way that is likely to weaken its capacity to identify the trademark owner's goods or services or to tarnish the wholesomeness of the mark. The trademark owner need not show that you created consumer confusion, and dilution may occur even if your goods or services are completely different from the trademark owner's. Because of dilution law, it's probably not a good idea to call a blog "Kodak News" or "McDonald's Blog," unless it is actually about Kodak or McDonald's (in which case you should read Using the Trademarks of Others carefully). For details on trademark dilution, see What Trademark Covers.

# Cybersquatting: Cybersquatting happens when you register, use, or sell a domain name with the intent to profit from someone else's trademark. Congress passed the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act in 1999 to stop speculators from buying up multiple domain names and selling them at exorbitant prices to the legitimate owners of the associated trademarks. If your use of a trademark owner's trademark in a domain name does not fit this stereotypical model, you should be able to avoid cybersquatting liability. For details, see the Cybersquatting section.

Technorati Tags: Trademark Infringement, Cybersquatting, Dilution

Anti-Abortion Group Uses Cybersquatting Tactics To Divert Traffic From Family Planning Clinic

Cybersquatters seek to divert traffic for a variety of reasons.  Many of them are simply looking to divert traffic from a trademark holder to their own website to generate Adlinks and PPC (pay-per-click) revenue.  Companies sometimes register domains of their competitors in order to divert traffic.  In the case below, an anti-abortion group used cybersquatting tactics to try and divert women searching for a family planning clinic known as fphs.org.  When their cybersquatting tactics were discovered, they ultimately took the web page down.  The Whois information for fphs.com is found here.  The registrant is listed as Janna Janke, who apparently is the executive director of Hope Pregnancy Resource Center in Wausau, Wisconsin.

The Crisis Pregnancy Center apparently has a business model designed around deceiving pregnant women, and especially teens, into its website and various locations thinking that they will receive family planning help, but instead receive anti-abortion information.   

Below The Waist Blog:  Thanks to solid local reporting, a Crisis Pregnancy Center website designed to deceive women who were looking for information about reproductive health services was taken down this week. Website visitors who typed in “fphs.com” instead of “fphs.org” were sent to a crisis pregnancy center site instead of to the family planning clinic site they were looking for. Pat Peckham, a reporter with Wausau, Wisconsin’s weekly newspaper, City Pages, discovered the alternate site and pursued the story to its end. In this case, the end was that Hope Crisis Pregnancy Center took the website down because others might see their deceit as ‘untoward.’ Others might see it for exactly what it was.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers often set up “look alike clinics” near abortion clinics in an effort to lure women into their pseudo-clinics. There are many descriptions this month of these kinds of tactics on www.RHRealitycheck.org. Coincidentally, a couple of weeks ago I received an email from a friend in the community. He told me that the daughter of one of their employees had gone to one of our family planning clinics. The staff prayed with her for an hour, convinced her that she was a sinner, gave her a Bible and sent her home.

Continue reading "Anti-Abortion Group Uses Cybersquatting Tactics To Divert Traffic From Family Planning Clinic "

Domain Taster's Days Are Numbered: ICANN Marches Forward With Changes to AGP

Internet squatters facing eviction - International Herald Tribune

Arbitrators like the World Intellectual Property Organization and the National Arbitration Forum attribute the record number of international trademark disputes last year to domain tasting. Since this form of domain name tasting emerged in 2005, for example, the number of disputes to come before the WIPO has risen 48 percent, to 2,156.

For companies like Microsoft, domain tasting creates the constant headache of chasing after typo-squatters  those who create and register Web sites with misspelled variations of the Microsoft name. For individual users, it means that millions of names are tied up in a constant churn of registering and returning names before fees are charged.

.... "We call it a billion-dollar industry," said Phil Lodico, an Internet strategy consultant and vice president with the coalition. "Initially squatters were just individuals who could be located anywhere by their personal computers. They're still out there, but there are also these companies that have invested heavily in technology. They're just canvassing the net by registering hundreds of thousands of domain names. And these folks are well-funded."

... The top three, Capitoldomains, Belgiumdomains and Domaindoormain, are registrar companies that each registered and dumped more than 11 million domain names in one month alone last year, according to Icann.

All three share the same address in Miami, with a contact number for a lawyer, Nancy Cliff, who did not respond to repeated messages. The Web sites for the three companies note though that they are fighting a lawsuit filed by personal computer giant, Dell, which is pressing "cybersquatting" lawsuits against the three.

Technorati Tags: domain tasting, icann, wipo, naf

WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for the week ending April 25.

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). There are 29 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 24 domains were transferred after finding of cybersquatting, 3 UDRP complaints were denied, 1 denied in part, and 2 resulted in a cancellation.

Continue reading "WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for the week ending April 25."

NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for the week of April 25

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). There are 18 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 10 domains were transferred after finding of cybersquatting, 4 UDRP complaints were denied, and 4 resulted in cancellations.

Continue reading "NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for the week of April 25"

NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 18

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). There are 30 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 24 domains were transferred after finding of cybersquatting, 2 UDRP complaints were denied, and 4 resulted in cancellations.

Continue reading "NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 18"

Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP

WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 18.
The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). There are 26 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 23 domains were transferred after finding of cybersquatting, 2 UDRP complaints were denied, and 1 resulted in a cancellation.

Continue reading "Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP"

More Commentary on the Vulcan v. Google Cybersquatting Class Action

Here is a post by Sarah Bird, who is an attorney and General Counsel for seomoz.org. She does an excellent job explaining the current state of the class action filed by Vulcan Golf (and others) against Google, Sedo, Oversee.net, Dotster, Revenue Direct and IREIT.

SEOmoz | Class Action Trademark and Anti-Cybersquatting Lawsuit Against Google and Domain Parkers Gets the Green Light

According to Google, its Adsense program for domains "allows domain name registrars and large domain name holders to unlock the value in their parked page inventory."

After a ruling by the Northern District of Illinois a few weeks ago, Adsense may also allow plaintiffs' attorneys to unlock Google's value. Or, if that is ungenerous, the ruling may allow trademark holders to lock-up the value of their registered trademarks. It really depends on your perspective and how you feel about trademarks and domaining.

Technorati Tags: Google, Sedo, Oversee.net, Dotster, Revenue Direct, IREIT, vulcan

NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 11, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). There are 20 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 12 domains were transferred after findings of cybersquatting, 1 UDRP complaint was denied and 7 resulted in cancellations.

Continue reading "NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 11, 2008"

WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 11, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). There are 31 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 25 domains were transferred after findings of cybersquatting and 6 UDRP complaints were denied.

Continue reading "WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 11, 2008"

Habitual Cybersquatter under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP): Keyword Marketing Inc. a/k/a Marketing Total S.A. a/k/a Domain Drop S.A.

Since 2006, Keyword Marketing Inc. a/k/a Marketing Total S.A. a/k/a Domain Drop S.A., has been the named respondent in 33 UDRP domain name disputes handled by either NAF or WIPO. Keyword Marketing Inc. a/k/a Marketing Total S.A. a/k/a Domain Drop S.A. has been ruled against as a cybersquatter in 32 of those domain disputes.  As a result, panels have ordered that the domain names be transferred from the registrant to the Complainant who filed the UDRP Complaint.  The UDRP decisions include:

Continue reading "Habitual Cybersquatter under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP): Keyword Marketing Inc. a/k/a Marketing Total S.A. a/k/a Domain Drop S.A."

Passive Holding Is Enough to Satisfy Bad Faith Use Requirements Under the UDRP?

A recent UDRP decision again explains how much use of a domain name is required in order to satisfy the UDRP.  Recall, a Complainant must establish not only a bad faith registration of a domain name under the UDRP, but it must also establish a bad faith use of the domain name under the UDRP.  Paragraph 4(b) of the Policy sets forth the four factors that that shall be evidence of registration and use of a domain name in bad faith, including:

Continue reading "Passive Holding Is Enough to Satisfy Bad Faith Use Requirements Under the UDRP?"

WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 4, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). There are 37 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 33 domains were transferred after findings of cybersquatting and 4 UDRP complaints were denied.

Continue reading "WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 4, 2008"

NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 4, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). There are 42 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 34 domains were transferred after findings of cybersquatting, 1 UDRP complaints were denied, 2 had a split decision and 5 resulted in cancellations.

Continue reading "NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for April 4, 2008"

A Specific Proposal for Stronger Laws to Protect Against Mass Bad Faith Cybersquatters

Christopher T. Varas:  "Sealing the cracks: a proposal to update the anti-cybersquatting regime to combat advertising-based cybersquatting." Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice Advance Access originally published online on February 20, 2008.

In this article, Mr. Varas takes the position that the UDRP and ACPA are no longer effective to protect mark owners and proposes stronger laws.  Specifically, Mr. Varas proposes that a finding of cybersquatting under the UDRP result in prima facia case under the ACPA, thus making money damages more likely. You need to be a subscriber to read the full article.   Here are some snippets.

Technorati Tags: cybersquatting, brand owners, pay-per-click, PPC

Continue reading "A Specific Proposal for Stronger Laws to Protect Against Mass Bad Faith Cybersquatters"

Cybersquatting is Only Going to Get Worse – Are You Prepared?

It was recently reported by Cyveillance, a leader in cyber intelligence reporting, that suspicious domain registrations have increased for corporations.  However, cybersquatting, typosquatting, and other forms of cyberpiracy do not only plague “large enterprises” with “master brands.”  Cybersquatting effects all types of entities - from the individual business owner with a common law trademark, to the mid-sized company with newly established trademarks and multiple domain name registrations, to the mega-corporations with hundreds or thousands of domain name registrations and trademark registrations with the USPTO and internationally.  Cyveillance’s report simply confirms that which these entities should already know – cybersquatting is a growing problem that requires careful attention.

Continue reading "Cybersquatting is Only Going to Get Worse – Are You Prepared?"

American Idol Appearance: Cybersquatting on Dolly Parton's Personal Name

As many of you know, American Idol is hosting Dolly Parton week, which means your favorite idols will be crooning to their favorite Dolly Parton tunes.  We thought we would take this opportunity to list some of the most blatant cybersquatters on Dolly Parton's famous name (which, of course, are protected under both trademark law and the UDRP) and official web site www.dollyparton.com.

• www.dolly-parton.com (re-direct to www.any-web.com/main.asp?SiteID=DOLLY-PARTON.COM which displays links to on-line vendors of Dolly Parton music and wares).
• wwwdollyparton.com  (site linking to ads for various Dolly Parton web sites)
• dollypartons.com (same)
• dollypartin.com (redirect to countrymuzic.org which is an adfarm site)
• dollypaton.com (adlink site)

There are more cyber-squatters on the Dolly Parton name, but this will give you an idea about what cybersquatting sites look like and how common squatting occurs. You might ask "What is the difference between American Idol using the Parton name and the sites above?"   American Idol, and its contestants, have permission to leverage the Dolly Parton name.  Cybersquatters do not.  They lurk in the shadows of the internet, hoping no one will notice their theft of internet traffic and adword revenue. 

Cybersquatting On The George Bush Library Name

Our lawyers all always amazed by articles such as the one in the Dallas Morning News, which highlights all of the people who have registered variations of George Bush's name, and the name of his library. There has been a lot of commentary recently about cybersquatting on politician names. Many of the uses noted below arguably meet the definition of unlawful cybersquatting under both the UDRP and ACPA. But no one quoted in the article seems to be aware that the registration of domains incorporating famous names such as George Bush is unlawful, subjecting them to damages in excess of $100,000.00

Bush library searches for Web site name 1:45 PM CT | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Headline | National and International News

What’s in a name? Plenty when Web users are looking for a recognizable brand. Here are some sites registered by owners other than the Bush Library Foundation:

GeorgeWBushLibrary.net — web company Illuminati Karate, Raleigh, N.C. (adlink site and a clear violation of cybersquatting laws).

GeorgeWBushLibrary.org — Chickenhead Productions, an anti-Bush Web site

(Does not appear to meet the gripe site test, and thus first amendment protection).

TheGeorgeWBushLibrary.com — Domains By Proxy (Does not appear to meet the gripe site test, and thus first amendment protection).

Technorati Tags: george bush, george w bush, bush library, cybersquatting

Domain Names: The Finder is Not Always the Keeper

So you are the owner of a domain name.  You use the domain name in conjunction with your business.  You have done so for years now.  Unfortunately, you inadvertently let your domain name lapse.  When you realize what you have done, it is too late.  Another registrant has registered what was once your domain name.  You no longer can offer your products and services at the website once housed at that domain name.  Even worse, the domain name is now being used by the new registrant to provide links to other websites.  What do you do?

Continue reading "Domain Names: The Finder is Not Always the Keeper"

NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 28, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). There are 30 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 21 domains were transferred after findings of cybersquatting, 3 UDRP complaints were denied, 6 resulted in cancellations.

Continue reading "NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 28, 2008"

WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 28, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). There are 38 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 34 domains were transferred after findings of cybersquatting, 4 UDRP complaints were denied.

Continue reading "WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 28, 2008"

Habitual Cybersquatter under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP): Texas International Property Associates (a.k.a. International Property Associates)

Since 2006, Texas International Property Associates, also known as International Property Associates, has been the named respondent in 98 UDRP domain name disputes handled by either NAF or WIPO. Texas International Property Associates has been ruled against as a cybersquatter in 90 of those domain disputes.  As a result, panels have ordered that the domain names be transferred from the registrant to the Complainant who filed the UDRP Complaint.  The UDRP decisions include:

Continue reading "Habitual Cybersquatter under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP): Texas International Property Associates (a.k.a. International Property Associates)"

Transfer Order For Traverse Legal's Clients under the UDRP

Traverse Legal attorney and cybersquatting specialist Brian Hall successfully represented our client American Wealth Alliance, Inc., which owns and operates breedersclub.net, a networking and information web site for pet breeders against Respondent Katarzyna Bieniek in a domain arbitration brought under the UDRP.  Traverse Legal's attorneys successfully achieved transfer of the domain by filing a UDRP cybersquatting complaint before the National Arbitration Forum.

The decision is significant because (a) our client did not have  trademark registration with the US Trademark Office and (b) our attorneys had to overcome Respondent's expected argument that 'breeders club" was a generic or simply descriptive term.

The client enjoyed a tremendous return on their investment, taking control of a extremely valuable domain with established traffic, solidifying their common trademark rights based on secondary meaning and securing the customers and advertisers who were being diverted by the cybersquatter in question.

If you have a domain name dispute, trademark infringement or cyber-squatting issue, you need the help of domain name dispute experts. Traverse Legal will provide you an attorney who specializes in cybersquatting arbitrations under the UDRP and anti-cybersquatting lawsuits under the ACPA.   Read the full decision below ....

Continue reading "Transfer Order For Traverse Legal's Clients under the UDRP"

WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 21, 2008.

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  There are 26 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 22 domains were transferred after finding of cyberquatting, 3 UDRP complaints were denied, 1 denied in part, and 1 resulted in a cancellation.

Continue reading "WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 21, 2008."

NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 21, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). There are 31 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 25 domains were transferred after finding of cybersquatting, 2 UDRP complaints were denied, 1 had a split decision and 3 resulted in cancellations.

Continue reading "NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 21, 2008"

Habitual Cybersquatter under the UDRP: Caribbean Online International Ltd.

Not only can multiple UDRP decisions against a particular domain name registrant (respondent) evidence domain warehousing, or the practice of registering multiple domain names incorporating the valuable trademarks of others, but such decisions can be used as evidence of bad faith in other UDRP proceedings or in ACPA litigation.  It is critical to know who the registrant is, what other domains it owns or have owned, and how to best approach your particular domain name dispute. 

Since 2006, Carribean Online International Ltd. has been the named respondent in 28 UDRP domain name disputes handled by either NAF or WIPO.  Caribbean Online International Ltd. has been ruled against as a cybersquatter in 27 of those, including:

Continue reading "Habitual Cybersquatter under the UDRP: Caribbean Online International Ltd. "

Kellogg Should Have Purchased Eggo.com For $100,000.00. The Company Now Faces the Prospect of Paying Much More for the Domain.

We have recently posted concerning Kellogg’s National Arbitration Forum UDRP loss in its effort to secure eggo.com.  The prior post can be found here and here.  One of the most interesting things about this particular case is the fact that the UDRP proceeding never had any merit and virtually no chance of success.  Kellogg’s attorneys either didn’t know how to obtain the appropriate information in order to correctly analyze the eggo.com registration as a potential domain dispute or, more likely, simply ignored the law and attempted to use its economic leverage in order to essentially steal the domain name property from the legitimate registrant.  As many have already noted, Kellogg’s attempt to use the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy in order to have the domain name transferred to its control; smacks of trademark abuse. 

But the most interesting part of this decision is that Kellogg’s attorney discussed the possibility of purchasing the domain from the legitimate registrant and consulting company using eggo.com as the domain.  This is a highly valuable four letter domain with established traffic.  The domain registrant essentially offered to sell the domain to Kellogg for $100,000.00, which is a small fraction of the domains worth on the open market let alone to Kellogg Corporation.  Instead of jumping on the opportunity to own this valuable domain at a bargain price, Kellogg and its lawyer got greedy.  It is now likely that the registrant’s asking price will jump dramatically from the initial $100,000.00 asking price. 

Good advice is critical to both domain name registrants and trademark holders in these types of domain dispute matters.  The decision you make based on your attorney’s advice could not only mean the difference between success and failure, but end up making you look pretty silly in the transparent world of the web. 

L'Eggo My Eggo.com! Kellogg Learns a Domain Dispute Lesson: Hire An Internet Attorney Who Specializes in Domain Disputes

Thanks to Domain Name Wire for this post which illustrates once again that trademark lawyers often find themselves over their head under the UDRP when they try to arbitrate domain disputes. Clearly, counsel did not have the experience to obtain the background information necessary to understand that the domain eggo.com was a poor (if not impossible) candidate for UDRP transfer.  The Kellogg North America Company v. N.A. c/o Gregor NAF decision was correctly decided under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. Kellogg wasted its money on this effort to protect the Eggo trademark.

Domain Name Wire » News » Leggo My Eggo! Kellogg Loses Domain Dispute - The Domain Industry's News Source

Kellogg North America Company, which sells frozen waffles under the “Eggo” brand, has lost a domain dispute for the domain Eggo.com.  In its dispute before National Arbitration Forum, Kellogg asserted that the domain name was for sale since it was registered in 2001, probably referring to an Archive.org image of the site that showed the domain for sale at DomainDeluxe. But Kellogg didn’t check its facts and the historical ownership records, as it turns out the current owner bought the domain from DomainDeluxe in 2002 for $1,400.  According to Archive.org, the domain has been used for a real consulting company called eggo since at least the early part of 2003, showing there is no confusion with the Eggo waffle brand and a bona fide use of the domain.  The National Arbitration Panel panelist found that: (1) the disputed domain name is identical to the EGGO mark; (2) Complainant has rights in the mark EGGO; (3) Respondent has rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name; and (4) the domain name was not registered and is not being used in bad faith.

The decision is interesting because eggo.com is NOT a generic domain name. However, Respondent contented that he was unaware of the eggo brand and Kellogg attorneys apparently offered no evidence of sales of eggo waffles in Spain, where Respondent was located. More importantly, Respondent was using eggo.com for a legitimate purpose, that is, as a consulting firm which just happened to share the same name as our morning waffles. This could easily have been a 'reverse domain hijacking' decision under the facts presented. The full decision is found below.

Continue reading "L'Eggo My Eggo.com! Kellogg Learns a Domain Dispute Lesson: Hire An Internet Attorney Who Specializes in Domain Disputes"

WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 14, 2008.

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  There are 22 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 18 domains were transferred after a finding of cybersquatting and 4 UDRP complaints were denied.

Continue reading "WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 14, 2008."

NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 14, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the National Arbitration Forum (NAF).  There are 21 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 15 domains were transferred after a finding of cybersquatting, 1 UDRP complaint was denied, and 5 resulted in cancellations.

Continue reading "NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 14, 2008"

Was Pagewaxing the Reason for this Website Being Shut Down?

Pagewaxing is a type of censoring that leads to a website being shut down by suspending a particular domain name.  The most recent matter raising pagewaxing concerns involves Go Daddy shutting down a website that lets people criticize individual police officers.  Go Daddy’s explanation is that the website was using too much bandwidth.  The registrant of the domain name and owner of the website disagrees and believes he is being censored after police officers complained of his site’s content.

Continue reading "Was Pagewaxing the Reason for this Website Being Shut Down?"

Presidential Debate: Is this Cybersquatting or Not?

It looks like domain name registrations incorporating the names of political candidates continues to occur.  The question becomes whether the registration and use is cybersquatting or not?  Clearly Hillary Clinton has been the victim of cybersquatting.  That said, the R.N.C.’s latest domain name registrations incorporating democratic candidates’ names may not be cybersquatting, but rather fair use under the First Amendment.  In fact, the R.N.C. has gone as far as to procure defensive registrations of domain names that may have been used to attack its candidates, namely John McCain.  What will the democrats do?  Will they begin to procure similar domain name registrations?  Will they file UDRP complaints, send domain name threat letters, or even file lawsuits – and if they do, will they be guilty of pagewaxing?  Many questions remain.

Regardless, this frantic, political domain name activity provides several great lessons:

1. Domain names are valuable, and will be sought after by all entities in all areas
2. Defensive domain name registrations are as important as domain name registrations that reflect your name, your company’s name, or anything else of value
3. Domain names must be protected
4. An entity may have rights to domain names owned by others, and if so, there are ways to recover the domain and possible damages as well
5. Good faith, fair use, and legitimate use are all viable defenses to claims of cybersquatting.

While the presidential election is up for debate, what qualifies as cybersquatting is not.  Presidential candidates have advisors and you can too.  An experienced domain name attorney can advise you regarding safe domain name registrations, what to do if you have been classified as a cybersquatter, and how to manage your domain name portfolio. 

NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 7, 2008

The following Uniform Dispute resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the National Arbitration Forum (NAF).  There are 32 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 25 domains were transferred after finding of cybersquatting, 2 UDRP complaints were denied, and 5 resulted in cancellations.

Continue reading "NAF Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 7, 2008"

WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 7, 2008.

The following Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decisions were entered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  There are 30 panel decisions, and of those decisions, 24 domains were transferred after finding of cybersquatting, 4 UDRP complaints were denied, and 2 resulted in cancellations.

Continue reading "WIPO Domain Dispute Decisions under the Cybersquatting Provisions of the UDRP for March 7, 2008."

How Much Is A Domain Really Worth?

This is a difficult question to answer.  You can compare what you own to other similar domains that have sold.  However, as Michael Gilmour correctly states, “the only way to really find out the true value of a domain is to sell it.”  This should not come as a huge surprise since one of the best ways to value a house is to look at comparable sales in the area.  Unfortunately, a house is brick-and-mortar, with one location, one view, one neighborhood, etc.  You know what you are getting when you buy a house.  A domain, on the other hand, can have intrinsic value, but it is hard to tell what truly can become of it without seeing the website and product/service offerings that will be housed on it.  It is more difficult to know what you are getting, or what you may already have, in a domain.

Regardless, a domain is an investment property that is worth protecting.  We all know the investment does not come at the time of purchase, since the price of a domain is miniscule in comparison.  The investment into the domain comes in protecting it.  If as the domain name registrant, you are subjected to a threat letter, a UDRP proceeding, or trademark infringement or ACPA lawsuit, it makes sense to protect a domain that may be worth more than your house at some point in time.  Just like you call a realtor when it comes time to buy or sell your house, you should call a domain name attorney to help you with your domain name transactions.

Register.com Alleges Cybersquatting & Files UDRP Case against DomainIt

Domain Name Wire » News » Register.com Goes After Register.cc - The Domain Industry's News Source

Domain registrar Register.com has filed a UDRP against another ICANN-accredited domain registrar, DomainIt, for its use of Register.cc. DomainIt, which manages 22,354 domains according to RegistrarStats, currently forwards register.cc to its main web site. This is an interesting case on a couple grounds. First, it’s rare to see two ICANN-accredited registrars on opposing sides of a UDRP arbitration. Second, it’s a .cc domain, which is not a popular domain and not commonly disputed under UDRP. Is Register.com right to go after this name? Here’s what I dug up.

Register.com’s history with arbitration at National Arbitration Forum doesn’t make this a clear cut case. The company won a slam dunk case for wwwregister.com. It also won a case for a number of domains including 101register.com, webpage-register.com, and website-register.com. The panel decided these were confusingly similar, perhaps because the owner created web sites very similar to Register.com’s. But then it lost a case for ComRegister.com in 2006, as the panelist wrote “The addition of the term “com” to the beginning of Complainant’s mark is sufficient to distinguish Respondent’s comregister.com domain name from Complainant’s mark.”

This will be a difficult cybersquatting case for Register.com to win. Register has many non-infringing uses and is a very weak trademark. DomainIt can argue that it was registered for its pure generic value to describe the services it offers, which happen to be the same as Register.com.

Technorati Tags: register.com, domainit.com, register.cc, cybersquatting

Political Candidate Cybersquatting: Hillary Clinton's Name Most Squatted

Hillary Clinton the Most “Cybersquatted” Name This Election ~ The National Arbitration Forum Blog

The most eagerly followed U.S. election race in decades has triggered an avalanche of 'cybersquatter' activity, according to a cybersquatting report on Forbes.com. More than 1,900 domain names related to the presidential candidates have been registered.  The report by NetNames, an ICANN accredited domain name registrar, indicates that Hillary Clinton, followed by Barack Obama and then John McCain, is the most popular candidate online. More than 1,000 domain names related to Clinton’s name have been registered.

According to NetNames Study, a significant proportion of hijacked domain names lead to online 'click farms' - websites that feature Google-style pay-per-click adverts.  This is classic cybersquatting and typosquatting. Presidential and other political candidates have always been a favorite target of people looking to cybersquat famous names because of the web traffic they attract and the huge political campaign marketing budgets which push potential voters to official candidate web sites. Because internet users often mistype the candidates name into the browser address bar, many people navigate to these cybersquatting sites by accident. In some instances, negative messages or competing politicians are include din the ads which display on the cybersquatting site. Political candidate cybersquatting poses risks to candidates because of the potential for diverted traffic and competing political messages. As noted previously, personal names, including those of political candidates because they are inherently famous, are protected by both the UDRP and ACPA. 

A November 2006 New York Times article discussed political candidate domain name disputes, cybersquatting on personal names.  The article highlighted Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s domain name dispute under the UDRP which she filed the National Arbitration Forum in which a panelist ordered the disputed domain name HillaryClinton.com to be transferred to Clinton.  (see NAF cybersquatting decision below)

Technorati Tags: personal names, cyber-squatting, political candidates, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain

Continue reading "Political Candidate Cybersquatting: Hillary Clinton's Name Most Squatted"

Trademarks Can Be Protected From Cyber-Squatters and Typo-Squatters at The Registrar Level

Domain Name Wire » News » GoDaddy Files Patent for Filtering Ads on Trademark Domains - The Domain Industry's News Source

GoDaddy has filed a patent for a technology that would filter ads from domain names containing trademarks. Patent application #20080033822 reads:

invention allow for filtering online advertisements containing third-party trademarks. In an example embodiment, a webpage host may host a webpage that resolves from a domain name. A check trademark service may parse the domain name into a keyword that an advertising generator may use to generate an advertisement relevant to the keyword. Before the advertisement is generated, however, the check trademark service may download a list of registered trademarks from a trademark database into local storage and determine whether the subject keyword is trademarked by searching the downloaded list of trademarks for the keyword. If the keyword is present, the process may end. Otherwise, the advertising service may generate an advertisement for publication on the webpage. This process may be repeated if the domain name is parsed into more than one keyword.

This is an important technology for domain registrars and parking companies. While big companies goes after small time domainers who hold trademark typos, domain registrars shows ads on thousands of trademark domains registered by their customers. This opens registrars up to trademark infringement lawsuits.

Technorati Tags: godaddy, typo-squatter, cyber-squatter, registrar

Cybersquatting and Abuse to Mainstream Consumer Brands Intensified in 2007, According to Year-Long Trend Report by MarkMonitor

» Cybersquatting and Abuse to Mainstream Consumer Brands Intensified in 2007, According to Year-Long Trend Report by MarkMonitor Domain Name News, The Domain Industry News, ICANN News, Registry News, Domainer News, Domain

MarkMonitor released their latest Brandjacking Index this week, finding cybersquatting is the most common form of brand abuse—with a 33 percent jump in one year—and that brandjackers are abusing an expanding range of brands that consumers use everyday. The report also shows recent and significant drops in domain kiting and related pay-per-click fraud, indicating that aggressive legal action on the part of brandholders as well as ICANN scrutiny are proving effective in deterring specific brandjacking techniques. In addition, phishing techniques and targets continued in 2007 to evolve with a 533% increase in phish attacks against the retail and services sector. There were 382,248 instances of cybersquatting identified in Q4, followed by 72,582 instances of false association and 27,098 instances of pay-per-click fraud.

For more coverage and the MarkMonitor news release, see:

* http://www.markmonitor.com
* http://www.vnunet.com/
* http://blogs.computerworld.com
* http://www.infoworld.com

Technorati Tags: cybersquatting, typosquatting, domain hijacking