This report confirms our client's experience with respect to domain disputes and bad actors. Last year, our group filed more Uniform Domain-Name Disputed-Resolution (UDPR) claims than the prior four years combined. And, unfortunately, this trend is projected to continue.
So what is cybersquatting, typosquatting, combosquatting, levelsquatting, and soundsquating? (Hint: they aren't reps at the gym.)
Cybersquatting - the practice of registering or using a domain name with a bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark that belongs to someone else.
Typosquatting - a variety of cybersquatting that takes the form of registering a domain with a deliberately misspelled name of another party's trademark (ex. Google.com v. Goggle.com).
Combosquatting - a variety of cybersquatting that takes the form of registering a domain name that contains another party's trademark + a generic term (ex. Amazon.com v. AmazonShopping.com).
Levelsquatting - a variety of cybersquatting that takes the form of registering a domain name that contains another party's trademark with a different subdomain (ex. Amazon.com v. Shop.Amazon.com).
Soundsquatting - a variety of cybersquatting that takes the form of registering a domain name that contains the phonetic equivalent of another party's trademark (ex. Forever21.com v. 4ever21.com).
Often times these bad actors engage in cybersquatting to compromise the web visitor's computer with malware, steal personal information, engage in email phishing schemes, sell goods that the customer will never receive to obtain credit card information, redirect traffic to competitors, monetize ads, or abuse affiliate links.
Dealing with these bad actors is frustrating and time consuming and (thankfully) the World Intellectual Property Organization agrees. UDPR proceedings offer a straightforward and relatively quick (30–45 day) resolution to these disputes. And I'm pleased to report that we're undefeated in bringing these claims on behalf of our clients. If your business engages in ecommerce or otherwise operates a domain, stay vigilant!
