We are often approached by trademark owners concerned that their competition has registered a domain name that is similar to their trademark and is using the same to divert customers away from their own businesses.  Here is what you need to know about the relationship between trademarks and domain names and what you can do to protect your trademarks from being used against you in competing domain names.

Registration of a Domain name is Not Trademark Use

As you are probably aware trademark rights generally attach to a trademark upon use of the mark in commerce.  Although there are other ways to reserve rights in a mark before it is in use, using the mark is generally a pre-requisite to securing rights therein.

Many people believe that the registration of a domain name in and of itself creates trademark rights.  Simply put, it does not.  Look at a domain name like a phone number.  It is merely an address on the world wide web where a web site may be located.  So the address by itself is just that – an address.  It is not a trademark.

Of note, this is not to say that domain name cannot become a trademark.  Amazon.com has one of the web’s most recognized trademarks.  But it is the name promoted on the pages of the web site Amazon.com which gives the owner trademark rights and not the URL amazon.com.

Cybersquatting

Although the registration of a domain name does not constitute trademark use per se, owning a valid trademark can preclude the subsequent registration of domain names that include or are similar to your trademarks.

There are two primary statutes or rules trademark holders can use to enforce their trademark rights against the subsequent registration of like domain names: (1) the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP); and (2) the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).

Both systems generally have the same requirements.  A complainant in a UDRP or ACPA proceeding generally must establish three elements to succeed:

1.  The domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights at the time the disputed domain name is registered;

2.  The registrant does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the domain name; and

3.  The registrant registered the domain name and is using it in “bad faith.”

In regard to bad faith, considerations of whether the domain name was registered in bad faith include, but are not limited to:

a.  the registrant’s intent to divert customers from the mark owner’s online location that could harm the goodwill represented by the mark, for commercial gain or with the intent to tarnish or disparage the mark;

b.  the registrant’s offer to transfer, sell, or otherwise assign the domain name to the mark owner or a third party for financial gain, without having used the mark in a legitimate site;

c.  the registrant’s providing misleading false contact information when applying for registration of the domain name; and

d.  the registrant’s registration or acquisition of multiple domain names that are identical or confusingly similar to marks of others.

The UDRP and Its Remedies

The Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) is a process established by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for the resolution of disputes regarding the registration of internet domain names. The UDRP applies to all .com, .biz, .info, .name, .net, and .org top-level domains (TLDs), and some country code top-level domains.

In short, if you register a domain name with one of these TLDs, you are subject to the policy.

Under the policy a registrant consents, in advance, to binding arbitration under the UDRP concerning disputes to the ownership of the domain name.  These disputes, which are handled by various authorized private arbitration companies throughout the world, allow for the quick and efficient resolution of UDRP claims.

Of note, the only remedy under a UDRP action for the prevailing party is to have the offending domain name transferred to their ownership.  There are no money damages.

One significant benefit to the system – speed.  From start-to-finish cases can often be completed in roughly 8 weeks.  In light of the current state of our court systems that is about as fast as you are going to get.

The ACPA and Its Remedies

The ACPA was enacted by Congress and signed into law to combat the rising incidences of cybersquatting in the U.S.  Unlike the UDRP which relies upon a relatively simple administrative proceeding, an allegation under the ACPA is generally set forth in a federal district lawsuit filed in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Unlike matters under a UDRP claim, speed is not one of the hallmarks of the federal district court system.  Due to the complexities of the issues involved as well as other actors a case filed under the ACPA in federal district court can take a year or more to reach trial.

However, the remedies under the ACPA are much broader than those under the UDRP.  Should a Plaintiff be successful, in addition to transfer of the disputed name the prevailing party may also be awarded monetary damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees.

Summary

So if you (1) have existing rights in a trademark and (2) someone thereafter registers a domain name similar to that mark (3) in bad faith you may be able to have the domain name transferred to you.  If you just want the domain name pursue the matter under the UDRP.  If you want more, a claim under the ACPA will be required.