Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Web site domain names

Recent legislation has made it harder for cyber-squatters to hold domain names hostage. However, the legality of their actions depends upon many factors such as: 1) the specific domain name; 2) does your company have a federal trademark registration; 3) how they are using the domain name, etc.. Feel free to call or email for a free consultation. (619) 522-6760 / [email protected]

Re: Web site domaine names

Recent Federal legislation has placed many significant restrictions on such cyber-squatters who attempt to hold domain names hostage. The legality of their actions statutorily depends upon a variety of factors, inclusive of whether or not the person or entity is currently using the domain name.

An action may be brought to enjoin the usage as well as for damages.

If you are in Northern California, give me a call at (925) 258-5100. I have been practicing for 20 years in commercial litigation. My hourly rate is $275.

Re: Web site domaine names

I recently concluded defense of an anti-cybersquatting case in which my client received a substantial cash payment for his domain name rather than getting slapped with a judgment. The point is that trading in domain names is not necessarily illegal. Whether the anti-cybersquatting and other intellectual property laws are broken depends upon several factors, two of which are (1) the intent of the person owning the allegedly-infringing domain name, and (2) the extent to which the complaining party's rights are infringed.

To give two illustrative examples:

(1) Registering 'cokedeguat.gu' and then offering to sell the domain name to Coca-Cola for their Guatemala operations -- clearly illegal.

(2) Registering 'widgetex.com' for one's own use, then discovering that there is a company called 'Texas Widgets, Inc.' and then offering to sell them the name -- almost certainly NOT illegal and not grounds for a suit.

Re: Web site domaine names

Hire a lawyer to write these claim-jumping barbarians a letter threatening all the tortures of a successful tradename infringement lawsuit.