If another party is infringing upon your trademark with the same or confusingly similar domain name, then your business may be seriously impacted. You may be quick to enter litigation proceedings, but you must consider the alternative methods you can take to resolve. Continue reading to learn these alternative methods and how an experienced New Jersey domain name dispute lawyer at The Ingber Law Firm can guide you through these proceedings.
What are the disadvantages of litigation?
First of all, your litigation proceedings may take place in a federal court. Here, you may place a lawsuit against an infringing party under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. What’s more, you may bring forward several other claims in addition to your domain name complaint, such as a trademark infringement claim, unfair competition claim, dilution claim, and more.
Though you may feel comfortable with this structured setting and set of processes, you must first consider its disadvantages. For one, this may be a slow and extensive process, in which you cannot afford to lose any more business for much longer. In addition, this may be an expensive process, in which it may not be worth spending any more money for the outcome you are seeking.
What are the alternative resolution methods for a domain name dispute?
If you do not want to commit the time and money that litigation proceedings require, then you may consider alternative resolution methods for your domain name dispute. More specifically, you may place a complaint against an infringing party with a resolution service provider. Such providers include the World Intellectual Property Organization and the National Arbitration Forum, among other providers. This is allowed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, a development by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
Notably, these administrative procedures may only take 50 to 60 days from start to finish. This is not to mention that arbitration is geographically unlimited (i.e., you may file against an international or domestic party) and relatively inexpensive compared to litigation. And it may land you with the same outcome as litigation proceedings would: an order for the infringing party to cancel or transfer the domain name in question.
To qualify for arbitration, you must demonstrate the following circumstances as true:
- You are the owner of a trademark that is the same or confusingly similar to the other party’s domain name.
- The other party does not have rights or interests in the domain name in issue.
- The other party registered or used the domain name in issue in bad faith.
In the end, there is no time like the present to bring your domain name complaint forward. So reach out to a skilled Essex County, New Jersey intellectual property lawyer from The Ingber Law Firm today.
