The Problem

The clashing of financial interests between famous trademark holders and those that saw an opportunity to profit by registering famous domain names resulted in numerous lawsuits. Therefore, while it may be true that the advent of the Internet revolutionized commerce and the way companies are able to market to consumers directly, this same technology also gave birth to direct competition in the form of “cybersquatters.”

A working definition of cybersquatting refers to anyone who knowingly reserves a domain name which consists of someone else’s trademark or name, but who hopes to sell that domain name back to the rightful owner for an inflated price. The practice of cybersquatting has undoubtedly cost businesses millions globally over the last 10 years. However, precise figures on these losses remain difficult to obtain because businesses are reluctant to disclose how much they have paid to regain their domain name(s) for fear of encouraging this behavior by other cybersquatters.

Some larger businesses with internal legal departments have decided not to negotiate with cybersquatters at all and prefer only to litigate matters involving domain names. While this method of non-negotiation has proved helpful to some in reducing the incidences of domain name theft, this is not a viable alternative for all businesses. The high costs of litigation make it impractical for small and medium sized organizations.

The Solution

In addition to litigation, a more efficient and cost effective resolution to domain name disputes has emerged in recent years, which addresses the concerns of angry trademark owners. Combining the authority of legal reasoning with the practicality of more client centered approaches, arbitration tribunals are proving to be effective in resolving domain name disputes. Currently, arbitration tribunals that handle domain name disputes operate nationally as well as internationally depending upon the domain name in dispute.

Because we believe that arbitration is by far the superior method to recovering a disputed domain name, we’ve devoted some time and energy into explaining the process in more detail. At INC Business Lawyers we are firmly committed to the notion that a client’s understanding of their legal issues can be empowering. We invite you to stay and browse the rest of our website even if you are not currently faced with a legal issue. The information on our site has been designed for those with an interest in on-line arbitration procedures generally.