How Can Cybersquatters Be Evicted, Cheaply?

wmshub asks: "Slashdot has covered stories where big mean companies threw poor little people off of web sites with names too close to that of the company. But what about when you are the company and the cybersquatter isn't even using the name? I have a small (ok, basically just me) company. The web site that exactly matches my company name has been registered since 2001, which is before I legally registered my company name but after I started doing business. Despite being registered for 4 years, the site is still nothing but a pile of banner ads - not even a hint as to why they want that particular name for their site. I contacted the owner, but they are not interested in selling (at any price, they said). If I read the ICANN guidelines correctly, domain name owners who have 'no legitimate claim for the name' can be evicted by people who do, so I think I should be able to demand they hand the name over. Has anybody ever tried this, or heard of a case where somebody with very limited funds (ie, not enough money to hire a lawyer) has been able to evict a squatter? Or do you always have to hire a lawyer and pay thousands in court fees to make this happen?"

Comments

Trademark your name

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advise.

If you trademark the name (nolo books for help) then you have a legitimate claim to the name and you should be able to get it through the ICANN expedited resolution service.

Re:CyberClaimJumper

[J'raxis]

The only way you could convince me otherwise is to prove that they knew about the name of your company and went and registered it.

Right, and this what the UDRP calls a "bad-faith" registration, which is one the criteria for yanking someone's domain. A usual red-flag for bad-faith registrations is attempting to sell the domain to the person claiming legitimate ownership, usually at an inflated price -- something that this purported cybersquatter not only didn't do, but he didn't even agree to sell when approached unsolicited.

And the converse ....

[khasim]

Dear Ask Slashdot,

I have a website that I've owned for years. Now some guy is trying to take it away from me by claiming it is his business name (non-trademarked).

How can I cheaply defend myself from his actions and keep my domain name?

Here's the answer

[InternetVoting]

The World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO) will handle domain name domain name disputes and arbitration.

Check out there Domain Name Dispute Resolution Service (DNDRS).

You should also consult ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, which is the guidline for WIPO's aritration.

Here's an abbreviated of what you would need to qualify:

• your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and
• you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
• your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

Bad faith is:

• circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain...(extortion)
• you have registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that you have engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
• you have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
• by using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or location.

Now since the owner of the domain says he will not sell "at any price," and they probably aren't out to disrupt your business... it seems like your SOL. Hope this is helpful for anyone who has a legitimate dispute and need for arbitration.

Oh, and I know a lot of people are going to say that the whole arbitration process might be out of date as most "squatters" have realized all you have to do is put up one of those "search" tool that serves soley for advertising, and then try to sell the domain for a ridiculous amount of money. Those people are right.

Re:No TLD mentioned...

[Monoman]

Which brings up the whole issue of missused TLDs. People register whatever they can across the TLDs. The TLD guidelines are not enforced and are a big part of the problem. IIRC the intended uses are

* com - business
* net - internet providers
* org - not for profit (is Slashdot.org a non-profit?)
* edu - education and enforced AFAIK
* mil - military and enforced AFAIK

I frequently look for resources on the edu domain and find it a joy. I can't think of any time finding a missuse. It just works.

IMHO the TLDs uses should be enforced. They should also make use of the country code domains like you often see with tw and uk. Multinationals would then regsiter for a .com if and only if they had the domain in use in multiple country level domains.

just my .02