Insights

Domain Name Disputes

Domain name dispute insights on UDRP strategy, the ACPA, in rem actions, bad faith, and legitimate interests.

Domain Disputes Beyond .com, New gTLDs, Country Code TLDs, and the URS

Most domain name disputes involve .com, and for good reason. It's the most commercially valuable extension, the one consumers type by default, and the one cybersquatters target first. But the domain name system has expanded far beyond .com, and brand owners who limit their monitoring and enforcement to a single TLD leave significant exposure unaddressed.

Domain Strategy and Trademark Protection for Online Brand Security

Domain name disputes are reactive by nature. A cybersquatter registers your mark, you file a UDRP complaint or an ACPA lawsuit, and you recover the domain after spending money and time on a problem that didn't need to exist. Every article in this series describes a tool for fixing a problem after it's happened.

How the UDRP Process Works and What You Need to Prove

A trademark owner who discovers that a cybersquatter has registered a domain name incorporating the owner's mark has two primary enforcement options. One is federal litigation under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, which is covered in a separate article.

How UDRP Panels and Federal Courts Decide Bad Faith Registration and Use

Bad faith is the element that determines most domain name disputes. Confusing similarity between the domain name and the trademark is usually easy to establish. Rights or legitimate interests can often be addressed through burden-shifting.

In Rem Actions Under the ACPA and How to Recover a Domain When You Can't Find the Registrant

Cybersquatters frequently conceal their identities. They register domain names using aliases, provide false contact information to registrars, hide behind privacy or proxy registration services, and operate from jurisdictions where U.S. courts cannot reach them.

Legitimate Interests and When the Registrant Has a Right to Keep the Domain

A registrant can incorporate someone else's trademark in a domain name and still have every right to keep it. Domain names consist of words, and words have meanings beyond their trademark significance. A registrant who selected a domain name for its dictionary meaning, who operates a legitimate business under that name, or who uses it for noncommercial commentary has rights or legitimate interests that defeat a UDRP complaint, regardless of how famous the complainant's mark may be.

Reverse Domain Name Hijacking and When the Trademark Owner Goes Too Far

ICANN designed the UDRP to protect trademark owners from cybersquatters who register domain names in bad faith. But during the drafting process, commentators raised a concern that went in the other direction. A streamlined administrative proceeding that can transfer a domain name in 60 days, with no discovery, no live hearing, and no monetary consequences for losing, could also be used by trademark owners to take domain names from registrants who had every right to keep them.

The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act and When to Sue in Federal Court

Most domain name disputes can be resolved through a UDRP proceeding at WIPO or another provider. A UDRP complaint costs $1,500, takes roughly two months, and can transfer the domain name to the trademark owner. For many cybersquatting cases, that is sufficient.

Typosquatting, Brandjacking, and Domain-Based Brand Abuse

Typosquatting is the registration of domain names that exploit predictable user errors, misspellings, transpositions, missing characters, and wrong TLD extensions, to intercept traffic intended for a trademark owner's legitimate site. It's one of the most common forms of cybersquatting, and it's also one of the hardest to police because the number of possible permutations for any given brand name runs into the hundreds or thousands.