If you’ve ever entered your trademarked business name into a search engine such as Google, you may have been surprised to discover your business’s name in the website domain name at the top of the results list, even though you don’t have a website or you have a website under a different domain name. Upon opening the website, you further discover that the person who registered the domain name (known as the registrant) is using the website simply to get you to buy the domain name from them or to tread on your established goodwill by selling competitive goods or services.
Unfortunately, business owners encounter this problem all too often. The good news is that the there are two legal mechanisms available to you: the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d), and the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).