FAQ: What is cybersquatting?

In the early days of the internet, the practice of registering a domain name corresponding to a famous name, usually that of a company and usually with the aim of selling the domain name to that company, became known as cybersquatting. Of course cybersquatting derives from "squatting", occupying a property without permission.

Nowadays, the term cybersquatting is used to mean many different things but most often it denotes bad faith registration / use of a domain name designed to target a trademark holder (not necessarily a registered trademark owner) in some way. For example, the alleged cybersquatter may not intend or attempt to sell the domain name to anyone but simply to post paid advertising links on a website at the domain name in order to profit from visitors looking for the trademark owner or its business. Or maybe the registrant is a competitor seeking to divert customers to a business competing with the trademark owner.

A variation of cybersquatting is known as typosquatting. This occurs when someone registers a domain name designed to capitalise on mistakes made by internet users. This can involve registering / using a common misspelling of the target name / trademark. Or a typical typing error.

People sometimes misunderstand the meaning of cybersquatting. We are sometimes told: "Our domain name has been registered by cybersquatters". But on closer examination it turns out that the alleged cybersquatter has legitimately registered / use the domain name.

The term cybersquatting is sometimes used in a legal context. There is a US federal law known as the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act which defines cybersquatting as registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else.

But, except in those cases where cybersquatting is a defined legal term as in the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, it’s not legally relevant whether or not someone can be described as a cybersquatter or indeed a typosquatter. What is important is to work out whether the registrant’s conduct comes within the criteria for recovery of the domain name under any applicable domain name dispute arbitration procedure or whether it involves trademark infringement, passing off or some other breach of intellectual property rights which can be enforced by legal proceedings.

For a free initial chat and more information about cybersquatting legal issues, call Adam Taylor of Adlex Solicitors on +44 (0) 207 317 8404 or email.

Other FAQs:

What is domain name law?
What exactly are domain name disputes?
What is the relationship between a domain name and a registered / unregistered trademark?
Someone has registered my domain name - how do I go about domain name recovery?
What does your domain name audit involve?
What should I look for in a UK domain name lawyer / solicitor?