Samantha Demetriou ⬥ 31 August
Royal Pains is a television show on USA about Hank Lawson, a “concierge doctor” working in the Hamptons. During a recent episode, in addition to dealing with the usual gamut of medical maladies, the characters were also confronted with a case of typosquatting.
In the opening scene, Hank’s brother (and CFO of their company, HankMed) Evan leaves a voicemail furiously explaining that when he accidentally mistyped “HankMed.com” as “YankMed.com” in his Internet browser, he was directed to the site of a rival concierge doctor, Emily Peck. As the scene goes on, he points out that the rival doctor also owns “HankMe.com,” “HankMes.com” and “HunkMed.com.” Take a look at the clip:
Emily assures Evan that she’s not doing anything illegal. But we all know HankMed could sue her under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), assuming the fictional business had registered the “HankMed” trademark or could otherwise prove that Hank had developed a reputation under that name (and fans of the show know that he definitely has). Unfortunately, Hank seems entirely unfazed by Emily’s actions…probably because they’re romantically involved. At least Evan seems to understand the gravity of the situation. Clearly typosquatting makes for high drama.
Tags: ACPA, Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, enforcement, Hamptons, Hank Lawson, Royal Pains, trademark, typosquatting, USA