Author name: fairwindsp

By Steve Levy It is a foundational concept that the UDRP was created to deal with abuse of trademarks through the registration and use of domain names, namely, “cybersquatting”. These are situations where a domain name takes unfair advantage of a brand owner’s reputation for illicit gain. Obvious cases are phishing, counterfeit products, monetized links […]

By Tom Wells What is registrar hopping? Registrar hopping is the strategic transfer of domain name registrations between registrars at low or no cost. Registrants utilize the technique to limit domain name expenses or avoid repercussions for malicious activities like trademark infringement or malware. The exploitation of these registrar transfers allows bad actors to remain

By Tom Wells Introduction Does the below situation sound familiar? You become aware of a phishing scheme targeting your company via a malicious domain name. You take legal action to shut down and reclaim the problematic domain name. You then become aware of a new malicious domain name registered by the same bad actor who

By Steve Levy In a January 4th entry, we mentioned a UDRP claim against the domain name mar-a-lago.com that was denied based on a law firm’s failure to submit critical evidence of prior trademark rights. There’s now been a second decision denying transfer of the domain name maralago.com and the same law firm represented the complainant, DTTM Operations LLC, which

By Josh Bourne I find that brand owners frequently underestimate the potency and impact of typosquatted domains relative to other infringements and overlook them, focusing their enforcement efforts elsewhere.  I believe that this is a mistake.  Typosquatting is worse today than ever before, as festering examples still linger in the hands of criminals who use

By Steve Levy If you walk into a car dealership and ask the sales person to “please fix my backyard faucet” you’re going to get a very confused look in response. Sure, maybe you use your home’s plumbing, by way of a garden hose, to wash and wax your car, but that’s not something that

By Steve Levy One of the many benefits that FairWinds brings to its clients is advising them to put their valuable domain names on auto-renew and registrar lock. This seems quite obvious to brand owners who are familiar with this quirky and niche field but apparently it’s not to so many other companies. A recent

By Steve Levy In 1985 Donald Trump purchased the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and, in 1995, developed it into a resort which includes a golf course, beach club, spa, guest suites, dining, boutique, and catered events for members and guests. The Club is advertised in print and online at www.maralagoclub.com. In March of 1997, a Florida

By Steve Levy As the calendar flips over to a New Year, there’s glitter, candle wax, and Polaroids on the floor. As I’m cleaning up bottles, it’s only natural that my thoughts turn to the past year of domain name disputes and where things are headed in this mercurial relationship between domain names and trademarks.

By Steve Levy One element of par. 4(a)(i) of the UDRP requires proof that a complainant own trademark rights that relate to the disputed domain name. This proof usually takes the form of one or more trademark registration certificates that the complainant submits into evidence as part of its UDRP complaint. But what happens when

By Steve Levy A recent decision raises two very timely and critical issues. First is whether the case is being decided based on all of the available evidence, including how far a panelist itself is expected to go to find information that has not been submitted by the parties. The second is why there’s such