Relationships of Trademarks on Domain Names
- Many companies try to use their business name or trademark as their domain name
- domain name includes:
- top-level domain
- E.g., .com, .net, or .gov
- domain
- entity must register its domain name
- want their domain name to be recognizable to their customer
- first company to register a domain name has the right to use that name
- Domain name registrars do not review a domain name to make sure that it does not infringe on a trademark
- if it is available for use, then they will accept registration
- Cybersquatting is the bad-faith registration of a domain name that is a registered trademark or trade name of another entity
- registers trademarks or trade names to profit off others
- register them in the hopes of selling the domain name to the trademark owner for large amounts of money
- Trademark owners have the right to protect their trademarks from cybersquatters
- Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA)
- passed in 1999
- designed to
- stop people from registering domain names that were the trademarks of other entities
- allows entities to sue others for cybersquatting
- To prove their case, the plaintiff must show:
- cybersquatter registered the trademark in bad faith with the intent to profit from the registration
- under the law, plaintiff can
- recover damages
- ask the court to issue an injunction
- Courts also can award the contested domain name to the winning party
- trademark owners can pursue a domain name dispute under the ICANN UDRP
- may be faster than pursuing an action under the ACPA
- a contested domain name may be disconnected or transferred to a winning plaintiff