What Is Trademark Infringement
Trademark infringement refers to the unauthorized use of a trademark. But what exactly is a trademark?
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design , that identifies the source of goods or services. In other words, a trademark is an intellectual property right that allows one party to distinguish its goods or services from another partys.
A popular example of a trademark is a companys logo. Trademarks can also include celebrity names, as ones name can function as a symbol or indication of a personal brand.
For trademark holders protected by the ACPA, the element of bad faith intent to profit is at the heart of any cybersquatting claim. The ACPA lists the following nine factors to determine whether a domain name was registered in bad faith with intent to profit:
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Already Have A Domain
If youve already got a domain from a third-party provider, you can simply transfer it to Squarespace.
Search for your name, business, or brand name.
Check the availability of your domain names on a wide range of domain extensions.
Select one or more domain names and domain extensions.
Register your selected domains with Squarespace so you can manage them in one place.
Check out and pay.
Also Check: Transfer Domain Squarespace
Tips When Making Your Ca Purchase
Always register the domain name yourself
Never let third parties, such as a marketing agency, complete a registration on your behalf. This can become a problem if you part ways and no longer have access to the account managing your domain name.
Register common variations of your name
If your company or product is commonly misspelled, register the alternate domain names and forward them to your primary website. This helps protect your brand identity and ensures no one else can register these domain names.
Provide accurate contact information
CIRA and your registrar will use the contact information provided during the registration process to communicate important information about your domain name.
Register a .CA with French-accented characters
The .CA domain registry supports French accented characters within domain names: é, ë, ê, è, â, à, æ, ô, , ù, û, ü, ç, î, ï, ÿ. When a .CA domain name is registered, all variations with accented characters are reserved for the original registrant exclusively.
Choose a registration term length that works for you
You can register a domain name from one to 10 years at a time. A longer registration period, combined with setting up auto-renewal with your registrar, can help you ensure your .CA domain name remains registered and active.
Protect your domain
What If Your Domain Name Expired And Someone Else Bought It
This can happen.
You can do a Whois search and try to find out who the new owner of your domain is and try to contact them.
Now, a lot of registrars will swoop in and buy expired domain names and hold them for ransom. Youll see your domain name being sold for thousands of dollars
Ive heard that, with some legal help, you can muscle people into giving you your domain name back, especially if you were doing business with the name, and the new person is just holding the name for ransom . But this isnt legal advice just something I heard years ago. You can always contact an intellectual property lawyer for more information.
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Make Sure The Domain Is Registered
You wont know for sure if the domain youre interested in is registered until you check for yourself. The easiest way to check is to search for the domain name at a registrar like Name.com. That way, if the domain is available, or being resold as Premium Domain, you can easily purchase it directly from the registrar. If the domain is listed as unavailable, it is likely already registered and youll need to turn elsewhere for more details.
But before you resort to trying to buy a domain that is already registered , its worth looking into alternative options for domain names. You might find that by using a different or new domain extension, you can get the SLD you want for a fraction of the price.
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How Is The Gdpr Applicable To Webnamesca
Under Recital 23 of the GDPR, Webnames.ca claims no nexus with the EU, EEA nor the citizens of either, and therefore claims non-applicability of the GDPR to any and all aspects of its business.
Despite this, many of the domain Registries that Webnames is partnered with to provide domain extensions must comply fully with the GDPR. The changes to policies and procedures required of these partners will affect what information is collected, shared and displayed, and may result in changes to agreements and terms.
Notwithstanding, many domain Registries with whom Webnames.ca contracts must fully comply with the GDPR, and therefore these Registries may implement policies or procedures relating to WHOIS data which result in changes. These changes may include, but are not limited to,?variations in what WHOIS data is included and how it is displayed via the Webnames’s WHOIS lookup page.
Therefore, in regards to WHOIS output:
Where the domain Registry is the sole source of Registrant WHOIS data for the queried domain, the WHOIS data will be displayed by Webnames in whatever form it is received from the Registry, without alteration of any kind. This may result in some fields, particularly those containing Personally Identifiable Information being absent, blank or redacted.
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More Tips About Domain Registration If You Aren’t Sure Who Your Domain Registrar Is:
Your domain registrar may be the same or different from your web host. It’s possible to buy these services from the same company, but they are actually different services. So you may want to check with your website host to see if they can help you figure out the company you bought your domain from, or if they are your registrar as well as your DNS hosting provider or domain host.
If you are not sure who your web host is, you can find that out by examining your DNS record, specifically your nameservers. Our favorite tool for this is LeafDNS. If your nameservers are, for example, “ns1.bluehost.com”, then Bluehost is your web host.
Domain names can be difficult or impossible to get back if you lose them, so you want to make very sure to renew it with your current registrar before it expires. Expired domain names are often snapped up by companies who just sit on them until someone is willing to pay a hefty price to get them back.
And while you are at it, you may want to add domain privacy if your registrar offers it. This prevents you from getting spam from your public WHOIS data listing your administrative contact and other personal details.
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More FAQ in Domains
Get Started With Email Marketing
With the rise of social networks, the term Email is dead has become an age old adage, but it couldnt be further from the truth.
A well-maintained customer mailing list is an absolutely vital asset for any business/website owner. And why wouldnt it be? The people on your mailing list are familiar with your brand, products and services, and in many cases are ready to buy!
Growing and understanding your email list will result in more sales
Launching a new product? Offering a big discount? Got big news to spread? Your ever-so-valuable email list should be the first place you turn to.
Still not convinced? Heres some numbers
And to top it all off its super-easy to do yourself without the need for any techy marketing knowledge or design skills.
However, you cant just do email marketing using your regular email address/setup.
Day-to-day email services are not geared up with mass email marketing in mind. Its not practical and you could end up getting your email address blocked by providers such as Gmail, Hotmail, BT, etc. pretty quickly.
Thankfully there are dedicated email marketing solutions out there which will handle this for you, and for this guide were going to recommend our favourite email marketing provider MailChimp.
If you want to send more, or remove that logo, you can easily move onto one of their flexible paid-plans.
- Creating a list
- Avoiding spam filters
- Understanding MailChimp reports.
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What Can Filing A Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Do To Help
If someone is found to have violated someone elses trademark, there are a variety of legal consequences. The most significant is paying damages for trademark infringement. There is also the ability to recover attorneys fees incurred when taking legal action.
If bringing suit for trademark infringement in the United States, a plaintiff will most likely rely on remedies available in the ACPA. If a court finds that there was bad faith intent to profit from a domain name, remedies may include:
- Injunctive relief in the form of transferring the domain name,
- Actual damages resulting from any trademark infringement,
- Attorney fees to the prevailing party, and
- Statutory damages ranging from $1,000-$100,000 for each domain name violation.
If taking legal action under 15 USC § 8131, a plaintiff will need to show that:
- The defendant registered a domain name that consists of the name of another living person, or a name substantially and confusingly similar thereto,
- The defendant did not have the plaintiffs permission, and
- The defendant acted with the specific intent to profit from such name by selling the domain name for financial gain.
An exception to liability under 15 USC § 8131 applies to good faith domain name registrations that are intended to be sold along with the lawful use of a copyrighted work of authorship.
Why Should Registrants Still Utilize Whois Privacy Services
The WHOIS database lists information about each domain registration online and is open to the public. In regards to Registrant information, the amount that is displayed publicly may differ based on a number of factors, including:
- The specific domain extension
- The type of Registrant used for the registration
This means that malicious entities are still able to quickly access this public directory and survey for potential pieces of information to exploits. By replacing your information through a privacy service, your information is effectively blocked from public access.
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What Are The Costs Of Litigating Trademark Infringement Suits
Litigating a domain name claim can be expensive, but it is an area of the law where courts can award attorneys fees. These fees will depend on the specific rates of an attorney and the law clerks or paralegals that work on the case.
If a court grants an award of attorneys fees, this can dramatically reduce the costs to the individual for filing suit. But a word of caution about getting attorneys fees.
In two separate cases, Bogoni v. Gomez, 847 F.Supp.2d 519, 524 and Creuzot v. Green, 3:17-CV-404-M-BK , the plaintiffs spent over $70,000 on legal fees, then asked the court for an award of attorney fees. In both instances, the court granted the request.
However, the court reduced the amount awarded from $70,000 to approximately $44,000-$47,000. Whether the awarded amounts were ever collected is unknown.
Given the high potential costs of suing, it is best to assume that even if you can recover your attorneys fees, the court may not agree to make the other side pay the exact amount you request.
Furthermore, if you file suit as an individual and not through a trademark or other type of mark, you should consider settlement offers. This is because attorneys fees are oftentimes the only form of monetary recovery available.
What Is The Example Of Domain
Domain names are used to identify one or more IP addresses. For example, the domain name microsoft.com represents about a dozen IP addresses. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular Web pages. For example, in the URL http://www.pcwebopedia.com/, the domain name is pcwebopedia.com.
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Can I Look Up Org Info Biz Us Or Tel Domains
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How Can I Hide My Remaining Public Contact Details From The Whois Database
For Canadians with a .CA domain name, the?Canadian Internet Registration Authority ?automatically provides domain privacy be default. However, non .CA domain names will need to purchase an additional service called a Domain Privacy service. Once purchased, all Registrant information on the WHOIS database is replaced by proxy contact information. In most cases, this information belongs to the operating registrar such as Webnames.ca.
While the details list a registrar or proxy contact information, the true owner of a domain name is still the original registrant.
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How To Register A Domain Name Successfully
If you wish to register a domain name is not that simple as it seems. If you register the right domain name, then web users will find your site easily. But, if you register the wrong one, then they will not be able to visit your web site and finally you will lose traffic. A wrong decision will bring down your sites growth and certainly this is not what you want.
Nowadays, every country sells domains with its own extension and has at least sold the rights of the country extension to web companies who are known as registrars.
Most web users automatically type .com when they are not sure of the extension of a domain name. Most of us we can remember the basic name and if we are not sure about the extension the first characters that come up in our mind is .com.
Needless to say that is the most wanted extension. The extension that when someone checks the availability of a domain the first extension that tries is .com. Nevertheless, there are a large number of extensions out there and which one is that you will register its up to many factors which the location you are found is the most important of these.
People will remember your sites name and its extension, but will they remember that your sites domain name has a dash in it? If you register a domain name with a dash in it, you may face problems in marketing. This is not a big matter, but keep it in mind. Use a dash between the words of your domain only in secondary domain names.