Judge Patel presiding over this case in front of the Northern District of California’s District Court provides Internet Lawyers and lay readers alike with a few great examples of conduct that does / does not constitute ‘good faith’ in a cybersquatting claim brought under the ACPA.
1) A presumption of bad faith flows directly from any indication that a domain name owner, after already being accused of cybersquatting on a mark, registered additional domain names infringing (potentially) on the complainant’s mark to exacerbate the conflict. Instead, any party registering domain names that may potentially be infringing should register those domain names ‘as part of its program to connect with customers’.
2) A presumption of conduct indicating good faith is supported when a domain name owner accused of cybersquatting immediately ceases use of the infringing (allegedly) domain name after the cybersquatting allegations are brought to the domain owner’s attention.
3) (carrying the most weight in this opinion) A domain name owner accused of cybersquatting or trademark infringement can demonstrate ‘good faith’ by offering to unconditionally transfer the (possibly) infringing domain names to the complaining party.
Overview;
Plaintiff in this suit is Rearden LLC (Rearden), founded by Steve Perlman. Rearden owns the federal registered trademark for ‘REARDEN’ – Serial No. 77194957.
The Defendant, Rearden Commerce Inc., (RC), adopted that name in January 2005. RC owns the federal registered trademark for ‘REARDEN COMMERCE’ – Serial No.76632927.
Continue reading Good Faith and Bad Faith Analyzed in N.D.C.A. Cybersquatting Claim Brought Under the ACPA – Rearden LLC., v. Rearden Commerce »