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Cybersquatting

When a person other than the owner of a well-known trademark registers that trademark as an Internet domain name and then attempts to profit from it either by ransoming the domain name back to the trademark owner or by using the domain name to divert business from the trademark owner to the owner of the domain name.  See DaimlerChrysler v. The Net Inc., 388 F.3d 201 (6th Cir. 2004). 

The elements required to establish a cybersquatting claim are: plaintiff's ownership of a distinctive or famous mark entitled to protection; defendant's domain name is identical or confusingly similar to plaintiff's trademark; and defendant registered domain name with bad faith intent to profit from it.  See, e.g., 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d); Nike, Inc. v. Circle Group Internet, Inc., 318 F.Supp. 2d 688 (N.D. Ill. 2004).

Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary

The practice of acquiring a business name, trademark, or celebrity name as a domain name, hoping to later profit by reselling the domain name back to the company or person who has been disadvantaged. The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999 authorizes a cybersquatting victim to file a federal lawsuit to regain a domain name or sue for financial compensation. Victims of cybersquatting can also use the provisions of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy adopted by ICANN, an international tribunal administering domain names.

Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.

August 19, 2010, 5:14 pm