.CM Update: Stopgap solution for trademark owners

Perspectives Reader,

As we reported yesterday, .CM is configured to serve pay-per-click (PPC) ads for virtually any .COM domain, for which the type-in direct Web user accidentally omits the "o" in ".com." All of the traffic currently forwards to a PPC site hosted by "Agoga".

While FairWinds is considering ways to pursue more long-term solutions for the re-delegation of the .CM registry, there is an immediate stopgap measure available to individual trademark owners.

Agoga has a trademark removal request process, whereby trademark owners can ask to have their marks removed from the system one-by-one.

Please visit the following site if you wish to remove your trademarks from Agoga (and the .CM scheme, as a result): http://agoga.com/contact.php?form=trademark.

While this won't help you acquire .CM domains to gain the diverted traffic, this will prevent the presentation of advertisements for competing services to Internet users, who stumble on .CM domains rather than seeing unauthorized distributors, competitors, counterfeits, etc. alongside a brand (example: http://www.ferragamo.cm).

You will be asked to explain (in free text) why this service has infringed the owner's rights. If you have not dealt with taking down a PPC site in the past, the most common reason to offer them is the following: "Placing a famous trademark alongside competing goods causes confusion, and dilutes the trademark."

Since many of our readers reside outside the United States, they would need to rely more heavily on "consumer confusion" to remove marks from the Agoga system. However, if your jurisdiction has applicable statutes, then add the dilution component, as well.

If you have any questions about this story or would like to learn more about FairWinds, please contact us.

Thank you,

Josh Bourne & Phil Lodico
Managing Partners