Cybersquatting is registering a domain name in bad faith to profit from someone else's trademark.
Cybersquatting is when someone registers a domain that matches a brand they don't own, with the aim of cashing in on it. They might try to sell it back to the company at a high price, show ads to people looking for the real brand, or use it to trick visitors.
For example, if a well-known shoe company launches a product called "AirStride" and someone quickly registers airstride.com before the company does, then offers to sell it for a large sum, that's cybersquatting.
Common types of cybersquatting
- Classic squatting: registering an exact brand name to resell it.
- Typosquatting: registering misspellings, like gooogle.com, to catch typing mistakes.
- TLD squatting: taking the same name on another extension, such as brand.net when the company uses brand.com.
- Name squatting: registering a famous person's name.
- Expired name grabbing: catching a brand's domain after it lapses, often through drop-catching.
Is cybersquatting illegal
It can be. In the US, the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) lets trademark owners sue and claim damages. Many other countries have similar trademark laws. But simply owning a domain that contains a common word isn't cybersquatting. The key test is bad faith.
Signs of bad faith include offering to sell the domain to the trademark owner for much more than it cost, registering many brand-based names, or using the domain to pretend to be the brand.
How to deal with cybersquatting
- Check the facts: look up the WHOIS record and see how the domain is being used.
- Consider an approach: sometimes a polite enquiry or a broker gets the name back cheaply.
- File a UDRP complaint: for generic domains like .com, this is a faster and cheaper route than court. A panel decides whether the name should be transferred to you.
- Use local dispute rules for country-code domains, many of which have their own process.
- Go to court if you want damages or the case is complex.
To win a UDRP case, you generally need to show the domain is identical or confusingly similar to your trademark, the owner has no legitimate interest in it, and it was registered and used in bad faith.
How to protect your brand from cybersquatting
- Register your main domain early, before announcing a new brand or product.
- Pick up key variations, such as common misspellings and important extensions.
- Register your trademark, which strengthens any future dispute.
- Keep your domains on auto-renew so they never lapse.
You can register .com, .net, .org, .co and other extensions from the domain registration page.