Texas Business Lawyer

June 9, 2008

Trademarks and Cybersquatters

Filed under: Trademarks — admin @ 5:20 pm

After years of hard work, you find your business has taken off: revenues are climbing, first time customers have become repeat customers, and rumors of your quality workmanship and services have spread throughout the community, including the online marketplace.  In today’s world, however, opportunities abound for the unscrupulous to damage your trademark and unjustly profit off of your efforts.  The internet has exploded as an unregulated communicative medium, and as a consequence the rise of e-piracy, cybersquatting, and fraud have followed.  Specifically, many businesses will fall victim to imitators who will register similar domain names or alter their metatags in attempt to divert your clients to their website.

 

Cybersquatters are not innocuously mischievous.  They represent a real threat by both diverting your legitimate business revenues to their websites and affecting your organic presence on internet search engines such as Google or Yahoo, to name the most prominent.

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U.S. federal government passed the Lanham Act specifically to deal with pernicious cybersquatters.  It provides the injured party with a panoply of possible remedies, including: injunction demanding the immediate cessation of the illegal activity, damages (losses incurred by the harmed party, profits earned by the defendant, & litigation costs), statutory damages, the destruction of infringing articles, a court order demanding forfeiture or cancellation of a domain name, or a court order demanding the transfer of the domain name to the owner of the mark.

[1] 

The Vethan Law Firm P.C.’s attorneys are experienced in trademark litigation, focusing our efforts on protecting the trademark rights of American businesses.  Often times, we can end the harmful activity with a simple “cease & desist” letter to the infringing party.[2]  However, if the behavior continues, we are willing and able to take steps to protect your business presence.



[1] The Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 1125 (2006).

[2] Karl F. Jorda, Patent Infringement Litigation: The US Experience, Pierce L. Publ’n & Papers, at http://www.ipmall.info/hosted_resources/pubspapers/jorda_03_23_99.asp (last visited June 3, 2008).

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The Law discussed on this blog page is specific to the state of Texas.
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