A business’s domain name is its online identity and location, and it is as important as a physical location is to a brick-and-mortar business. Before a visitor even lands on your website, your domain name has already helped that person to begin forming an impression of your business. In short, it is a critical asset that must be protected.

Unfortunately, in some ways, your domain name is more vulnerable than a physical place of business. Bad actors may register a domain name with the intention of profiting off of your business’s goodwill and reputation, register a domain name that infringes on your intellectual property rights, or even try to gain legal access to a domain name that rightfully belongs to you. These actions give rise to domain name disputes, which are governed by the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP).

UDRP lawyer Kevin Toll devotes his entire practice to internet law, including preventing domain name disputes and resolving UDRP complaints. He works with online businesses and organizations to safeguard their domain name rights. Contact Toll PLC today to schedule a consultation.

Common Domain Name Disputes

It’s easy to assume that once you have established a website, your domain name is yours, but there are many ways that other parties may try to get around your rights or divert traffic from your website to theirs. Common causes of domain name disputes include:

  • Cybersquatting, in which someone registers a domain name intending to profit from a business or person’s trademark or goodwill. In some cases, cybersquatters register and hold on to a domain name so they can later sell it to the business owner at a grossly inflated price.
  • Typosquatting, a variation on cybersquatting, in which someone registers a domain name with a slight, deliberate misspelling of a legitimate domain name, in order to capture website traffic from people who mistype or misspell the website address.
  • Trademark infringement, in which someone registers a domain name that is the same as someone else’s registered trademark, or is so similar as to cause confusion.
  • Reverse domain name hijacking, in which someone makes allegations of cybersquatting against a legitimate trademark owner in an attempt to gain ownership of the domain name through court action.
  • Abusive domain name registration, in which someone registers a domain name in order to use the domain for abusive or malicious purposes.

These actions can damage a business in many ways, from harming its reputation and diluting its brand to diverting potential customers to another site and creating cybersecurity risks. And because actions giving rise to domain name disputes can continue undetected for weeks or months, it is important to be proactive in protecting your domain name with the help of a qualified UDRP lawyer.

Work with an Experienced UDRP Lawyer

UDRP lawyer Kevin Toll works with businesses to safeguard their domain names and to respond to threats to or violation of their domain name rights. With his exclusive practice focus on internet law, Kevin is attuned to the evolving body of law affecting domain names and the remedies available to his clients.

Kevin can help businesses conduct trademark searches and register their trademarks so that they have better protection against infringements by bad actors. He can also help select and review potential domain names to ensure that they do not conflict with an existing trademark, as well as helping businesses strategically register domain names that might be relevant to them and to monitor their existing domain portfolio to identify infringements or threats.

In the event it becomes necessary to file a UDRP complaint, Kevin will initiate the complaint process, ensure the complaint complies with all legal requirements, and keep you informed throughout the resolution of the process.

To learn more about domain name disputes and UDRP complaints, and to protect your business’s identity and brand, contact Toll PLC to schedule a consultation.