Cybersquatting

Cybersquatting

Cybersquatting refers to the registration of an Internet domain name using a well known name of a brand with the intention to later selling the domain name at a profit to the ownerof the trademark.The greater the number of visits that the Internet domain name get, the greater is the value of it. In other cases the domain registrant use the domain obtained for business purposetaking advantage of the popularity of the domain name.

Cybersquatting started in the early 1990s when the commercial potential of the Internet first became apparent. Many companies with valuabletrademarks did not react at time in this period to reserve the Internet domain name according to their trademark. Consequently other companies or individuals reserved domain names identical or similar toothers’ trademark. This activity has generated one of the most common conflict in terms of number of lawsuits filed as to who should have ownership of a domain name, the trademark owner or theregistrant. Kilian M. (2000) points out that the main focus of “cyberlaws” has been concentrated on trademark issues.

Traditionally companies use trademark protection for preventing marketplace confusionand also for consumers to ensure there is not mislead about the source of a service or product, however the emerge of Internet have provided a challenge for this area because any person can gettrademark name as a domain address if it is not registered yet.

Since the main disputes involve trademark, courts traditionally applied trademark law for this cases, but the internet has becomecommercially a so strong platform that different legal resolutions have been created in order to deal with this subject. Basically the function of this resolutions is to protect trademark owners of bad faithactions. A bad faith behavior is considered in situations like the registration of a domain name made with the primordial purpose of selling it. Also, the early registration of a domain for...