Cybersquatting

Cybersquatting means that a domain name which is identical with a trademark, or can be confused with it, is registered by another party than the rights holder.

The number of users, companies and trademarks on the internet is growing all the time which means that there are more trademarks to abuse, more goodwill to sponge on and more consumers to mislead. The internet is an excellent breeding ground for those who want to take a free ride on someone else's goodwill or mislead internet users for profit: it is cheap, it is easy to remain anonymous and it is quick. All to the cost of someone else's trademark. It often happens without the knowledge of the trademark owner or its customers and business partners.

Cybersquatting can be prevented to a certain degree by means of a well thought out, unambiguous domain name and trademark strategy. One of the most important weapons in the fight against cybersquatting is active surveillance. The object of surveillance is to discover any infringement as quickly as possible. This facilitates rapid action against infringement, preferably before it is discovered by customers and business partners and before any damage is done. Read more about these services under Monitoring Services. Read more about the possibilities open to you in the event of cybersquatting under Acquisition and Dispute Resolution.