Legal Question in Technology Law in Virginia

Re: Domain Name Forwarding

Legal issues such as unfair competition, trademark infringement, and trade diversion may be relevant here; ICANN-relevant issues such as typosquatting may also be present.

You may wish to contact an attorney who may advise you on the merits of writing a cease-and-desist letter. You may consider doing this prior to the domain name dispute route, as it costs about $1,300-$1,500 for a single panelist using the National Arbitration Forum or WIPO.

To the extent that your case may involve issues of state law (in this case, Virginia), you may wish to consider contacting local counsel.

Best of luck.

Lee

Re: Domain Name Forwarding

I doubt that the problem which you've described is one for the law to solve.

It would seem to belong more to the rules and regulations laid down by the registrar of the domain names involved with the registration of your website and that of your competitor which may have to be looked to in order to resolve it.

Re: Domain Name Forwarding

You may be able to take this domain name away from your competitor under the UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy) arbitration process, depending on the specific facts of your case, because this sounds like typosquatting. Do you have a registered trademark in your store name? You don't necessarily have to have a registration to win but it alters the strategy here. I have handled many of these types of cases. Check out my website for more info - www.internet-legal.com/domains.htm - and contact me if you would like my help.

Re: Domain Name Forwarding

You can access my website at www.michaelstewartlaw.com which has an article on domain name dispute resolution. This may be appropriate in your situation.