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 "Groupon Pty Limited", and filed for the Groupon trademark in Australia. Groupon owns the top level domain groupon.com and the registered Groupon trademark, which is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
“The way we see things, this is a classic case of domain squatting – an unfortunate reality of the Internet business. As Groupon became internationally known, opportunistic domain squatters around the world started to buy local Groupon domain names, thinking that we’d eventually be forced to buy them at an insane price. In fact, we tried to do just that, reluctantly offering Gabby and Hezi Leibovich about $286,000 for the Groupon.com.au domain and trademark—an offer they accepted. But now they’ve changed their minds, and we believe that they’ll only sell us the domain and trademark if we’re willing to buy the entire Scoopon business from them. Left with no other options, we’ve filed a lawsuit against Scoopon, claiming that their Groupon trademark was filed in bad faith….”
Groupon plans to move forward with the lawsuit after Scoopon backed out of a deal which involved a substantial amount of money for the domain name and trademark. Mason anticipates that the litigation will be long and drawn out but plans to grow in Australia under a temporary name in the mean time.
Related Stories:
- Groupon Addresses Australian Cybersquatting Problem, DomainNameNews
- Why Groupon Isn't in Australia, GrouBLOGpon - Andrew Mason
- Australia’s Scoopon Won’t Sell URL for $286,000, So Groupon Sues, eMoney All Things Digital
If you have a an international trademark or cybersquatting issue you should contact a trademark and domain dispute attorneys for a free evaluation or call 866-936-7447(International Toll Free).
What do you mean by domain squatting? I have a business on the internet. How do I know that I have been a victim? Do I need an attorney for this case?
Posted by: Janet Knowles | 10/26/2012 at 13:37
This is a typical example of cybersquatting. It’s very unfortunate. People should not stoop to such levels, but strive to make a name for themselves with their own domain name and company name.
Posted by: Personal Injury Lawyer Sydney | 06/20/2012 at 21:14