Trademark
infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark (or a
substantially similar mark) on competing or related goods and services. When infringement occurs, a trademark
owner (the plaintiff) may file a lawsuit against the infringing user of the
same or similar mark (the defendant) to prevent further use of the mark and
collect money damages for the wrongful use.
[source: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/is-it-trademark-infringement]
Domain names can incorporate trademarks in a several of ways. An individual who is not the trademark owner, registers the trademark as a domain name engages in relatively straightforward trademark infringement.
As long as the cybersquatter owns the domain name and the trademark owner cannot register its own trademark as a domain name,the cybersquatter breaches the fundamental rights of the trademark owner. However, the practice of reserving a domain name is not against the law. Normally, cybersquatters register words or phrases they hope will some day be sought after by new companies or new business divisions. A trademark is not infringed by a domain name unless the trademark existed at the time of domain name registration. This kind of cybersquatting is speculative and legitimate. [cited from Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law]
John D. Mercer also identifies "innocent" cybersquatting, whereby the registrant does infringe a trademark "based on some unrelated interest in the word itself, without intending harm to a trademark owner" and "concurrent" cybersquatting, whereby the registrant uses the same trademark as another commercial entity, but not within a competing industry.
[source: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/is-it-trademark-infringement]
Domain names can incorporate trademarks in a several of ways. An individual who is not the trademark owner, registers the trademark as a domain name engages in relatively straightforward trademark infringement.
As long as the cybersquatter owns the domain name and the trademark owner cannot register its own trademark as a domain name,the cybersquatter breaches the fundamental rights of the trademark owner. However, the practice of reserving a domain name is not against the law. Normally, cybersquatters register words or phrases they hope will some day be sought after by new companies or new business divisions. A trademark is not infringed by a domain name unless the trademark existed at the time of domain name registration. This kind of cybersquatting is speculative and legitimate. [cited from Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law]
John D. Mercer also identifies "innocent" cybersquatting, whereby the registrant does infringe a trademark "based on some unrelated interest in the word itself, without intending harm to a trademark owner" and "concurrent" cybersquatting, whereby the registrant uses the same trademark as another commercial entity, but not within a competing industry.
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