Domain Name Infringement

When a person or group deliberately registers a domain that is confusingly similar in sound or spelling to one of your trademarked domains, it is usually done in bad faith with the intent of profiting from typos made by potential visitors to your Web sites.

This practice is known as “cybersquatting,” and in 2007 it increased over 200% versus the previous year. It is now estimated that tens of millions of domain names infringe corporate trademarks.

Cybersquatting has become so lucrative for its perpetrators because they are able to monetize your traffic as more and more Internet users practice direct navigation to find legitimate sites like yours. If users enter a typo, or make an incorrect guess about your domain name, they are likely to become unwitting “customers” of cybersquatters instead of your brand.

The True Cost

Trying to stay ahead of this game without an updated plan can result in significant costs for your organization. According to CADNA, cybersquatting could cost your company up to $1 million per year because of defensive spending on unnecessary domain names or the inflation of click fees due to visitors navigating through cybersquatted sites loaded with sponsored links and clicking to reach your site. Similarly, owning key domains and not using them, or not delivering an impression due to third-party use, could result in a loss of millions of page views per year.

The good news is that unlike many consumer uses of trademarks, this problem can be managed through an effective enforcement policy and proactive strategy.

Let FairWinds Partners keep you one step ahead of cybersquatters seeking to feed off your brand equity. To learn more, contact us here.