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Protecting Your Domain Name Understanding The Anti Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act
espite the simple disputes over domain names.
functionality on many First, a person or company can
levels of a domain name, it take action under the Uniform
is vital to the success of an Domain Name Dispute Policy. The
online business enterprise. At benefits of this process is that
its heart, a domain name it is relatively fast and
essentially is an address that relative inexpensive. There are
tells a user of the Internet how drawbacks that include the fact
to find a particular website. In that this process is not
many instances, the owners of available to all domain names, it
trade or service marks use their is not appropriate for license
marks as part of their business disputes and damages and attorney
domain names. Nonetheless, there fees cannot be recovered through
are many instances in which this process.
someone else may take advantage
and start using the trade or The other alternative available
service mark as part of another to a person or company who
domain name. With this well in believes it has been wronged or
mind, it is incumbent upon trade violated in terms of a domain
and service mark owners to name related issue is the
monitor to make certain that Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer
others are not misusing their Protection Act ("ACPA"). The ACPA
intellectual property in the was enacted in 1999 and was
registration of other domain designed to prevent
names. cybersquatting on the Internet.
No matter how the domain name Cybersquatting generally is
usage actually is discovered, considered the use of domain
trade or service mark owners have names that are confusingly
two basic options for resolving similar to trademarks and service
marks owned by other business determines that the person
enterprises or individuals. believed and had reasonable
The ACPA can impose liability on grounds to believe that the use
the registrant of such a domain of the domain name was a fair use
name (or its licensee) if that or otherwise lawful."
person or entity has done the
following: For example, the actual trade or
service mark owner must
(i)has a bad faith intent to demonstrate that the challenged
profit from the mark; and, domain name is confusingly
similar to its own trade or
(ii)registers, traffics in, or service mark. Only the challenged
uses a domain name that is domain name and the trade or
identical or confusingly similar service mark will be compared
to the mark and the mark (or under the ACPA. According to the
dilutive if the mark is famous) ACPA, the proper inquiry is
was distinctive (or famous) at whether the defendant's domain
the time of the domain name name is so similar to the
registration. plaintiff's trade or service mark
that the two could be confused by
The ACPA does establish a set of a third party.
nine nonexclusive factors that a
court may utilize in working to If the mark owner is successful
determining whether a person or in the action, the court may
entity has acted in bad faith, order the forfeiture,
has a bad intent, in regard to a cancellation or transfer of the
domain name registration. The domain name. Moreover, the mark
ACPA states that "Bad faith owner may recover the defendant's
intent . . . shall not be found profits, any damages sustained by
in any case in which the court the owner of the trademark and
its costs of the action. google_ad_format =
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Pursuant to the statute, the
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lieu of actual damages and
profits. The court can award google_color_border =
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between $1,000 and $100,000 per
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Claims that are made under the google_color_link =
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available to trade and service
mark owners who are trying to google_color_text =
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