Domain names can be incredible assets for a business.  Like a well placed piece of commercial real estate, domain names can be the key to turning a dwindling business into a healthy and vibrant economic powerhouse.  A well thought out and developed domain name can increase sales, increase brand recognition, and extend a business’ reach across international borders.  Cybersquatting and cybersquatters seek to profit from the inherent value that domain names provide to trademark holders.  Cybersquatters and, more specifically, typosquatters will, for example, register domain names that are common misspellings or typographical errors of a business’ trademark to siphon off the web traffic and goodwill that a trademark owner has created in its brand and domain name.

Cybersquatting cases can be filed through two similar methods.  The first is the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).  The UDRP is a contract created by ICANN that every domain name registrant of a major top-level domain name (.com, .net, or .org) must agree to in order to register a domain name.  Under this contract, the registrant agrees to have disputes over the domain name, specifically disputes over the abusive registration of a domain name, decided by arbitration under the Policy.  These arbitration proceedings are typically brought in front of the National Arbitration Forum or the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The second method is the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).  The ACPA allows a plaintiff to bring a cybersquatting case in federal court against a person that registers or uses a domain name in bad faith that is identical or confusingly similar to the trademark or the personal name of the plaintiff.  This remedy allows the plaintiff to seek statutory damages of up to $100,000 per domain name and attorneys fees in exceptional circumstances.  Additionally, a plaintiff can bring an in rem suit against foreign defendants to recover a domain name that was registered with a registrar or registered through a registry located on US soil, but monetary damages are not available in an in rem suit under the ACPA.

If you are faced with a cybersquatting case under the UDRP or the ACPA, contact one of our cybersquatting attorneys today for a free consultation.  You may be entitled to recover your domain name through a cybersquatting case under the UDRP or the ACPA.