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questions or problems? We can help.
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with your question or issue. We'll let you know how we may be able
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Domain Names and Domain Disputes |
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Is someone using your name or trademark in their domain name to
confuse Internet users or take sales away from you? Is someone demanding
that you turn over your domain name to them despite your legitimate use
of the domain? We can help. We represent domain owners and trademark
holders in domain disputes. We have the experience necessary to
successfully challenge domain ownership and defend against domain claims
in arbitration proceedings under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute
Resolution Policy (UDRP) established by ICANN in 1999.
We also help with claims under the AntiCybersquatting Consumer
Protection Act, a federal law that gives trademark owners legal remedies
against domain name owners that have registered domains, in bad faith,
that infringe upon the trademark owner's rights. For a discussion
of the differences between domain disputes under the UDRP and under the
ACPA,
read this post on our Internet Blog.
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Domain Name Arbitration
Under the UDRP, you can file an arbitration claim against anyone
that owns a domain that infringes on your trademark. A UDRP
claim is a quick and relatively inexpensive way to recover a domain
name that rightfully belongs to you. To win, a claimant must
show that:
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1. the claimant has rights in
the domain name. These rights can be based on a federal
trademark registration OR can be based on common law trademark
rights (you don't HAVE to have a registered trademark to win);
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2. the current owner does not have
rights or a legitimate interest in the domain name; and
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3. the current owner registered the
domain name and is using the domain name in bad faith.
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We also defend domain name owners against claims of infringement and
misuse. Our experience representing claimants also serves us well
when we defend against claims. These cases are very fact specific and
require an Internet lawyer or web attorney that is very familiar with
online business, web revenue models, and trademark law. Using an
online attorney like us improves your chances of success!
Domain name dispute arbitrations we have handled in the past include:
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a competitor of our client, a manufacturer,
was using a domain name containing our client's registered trademark to
confuse and misdirect Internet users to the competitor's website.
As an Internet lawyer, we were able to win the arbitration and get the
domain name for our client.
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a cybersquatter was using our client's name
in a URL to misdirect Internet visitors and generate revenues from
parked page ads. Although our client did not have a registered
trademark in its name, as an experienced web attorney, we were able to
successfully argue that our client has common law rights in the domain
and won the arbitration and had the domain transferred.
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a trademark holder was demanding that our
client turn over domain names that contained parts of the trademark
holder's marks, even though some of the marks were only in application
status and the category of use was different. Despite other
lawyer's saying we would lose and suggesting that our client give up the
domains without a fight, we built a solid trademark argument that
resulted in our client winning the UDRP proceeding on all domains!
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a critic of our client stated a website
criticizing him which was negatively affecting his business.
Despite the critics professed 1st Amendment rights to criticize, we were
able to defeat the critic and recover the domain name for our client.
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A trademark holder tried to bully our client
into turning over a domain name that contained a generic term.
With one letter, we were able to show conclusively that the trademark
owner would lose in a domain dispute arbitration and the matter was
dropped without a UDRP complaint being filed.
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Please keep in mind that every case is different and the results in a
case depend on a wide variety of factors. Prior case and matter
results, such as those above, do not predict or guarantee similar
results in future cases or matters.
The bottom line is that domain name arbitration requires an Internet lawyer and Internet law
firm with experience. We have seen cases in which a
Complainant or Respondent lost where they should have won because of
inexperienced assistance. The application of specific facts to the
law is absolutely crucial in UDRP arbitration and needs to be done
thoroughly to improve chances of success.
Contact us
today to discuss how we can help
you with your domain name issues.
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Law Offices of
Bernard C. Dietz, PC
Contact us today to see how we can help
804.290.7990
"Bernie Dietz has been my business advisor since 1999. I don't
negotiate or even consider a deal without his advice and guidance. He
writes all my contracts. Bernie keeps me away from bad deals, and he
helps shape every deal so it's profitable...
[more]
Nick Corcodilos AskTheHeadhunter.com"
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