As ElliotsBlog.com reported earlier Facebook filed a massive cybersquatting suit against 25 named domain holders including corporations and individuals as well as 119 John Doe defendants whose identity is yet unknown to Facebook. In all about 126 domains with known owners and 119 domains with unknown owners.
The lawsuit starts off quite ominously.
The Defendants Are Typosquatters.
“They Exploit and profit from Internet Domain Names that are confusing similar to Facebook mark”.
Interestingly A few days ago we wrote a post about a study on “What People Type Into The Address Bar” that contained the statement:
“‘“The website that appears to benefit the most from users mistyping a legitimate URL is faceboook.com (count the o’s). It’s a scammy website set up to make you think that you have been chosen as a “Facebook Winner.” However, it is only typed once for every 7,930 times that someone correctly types facebook.com”
Now that domain name, Faceboook.com was prominently mentioned in the body of the lawsuit as a the second prime example of infringing activities (See Paragraph G.)
In additional to $100K per domain and attorney fees, The lawsuit is asking the court to transfer all of the domain names to Facebook and award Facebook all the money those typo domains made, as well as triple damages and punitive damages. Facebook is also asking the court to issue and injunction preventing the defendants from registering any more domains that would infringe on Facebook’s Trademarks
8 of the Defendant have addresses inside the US including 6 in the state of Georgia.
Other defendants have address in Canada, UK, Panama, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Thailand and Antigua.
Here comes a shakeout!!!
My guess is this will either damage or put out of business a few domainers or part-time speculators (the majority of the latter probably knowing nothing about trademarks).
Anyone registering typos of something SO obvious as Facebook, knew this could happen……now the nightmare has arrived.
They should not have done it, but damn, you have to feel a little sorry for them because they are about to get zapped really bad.
This is not 2005 anymore folks!!! Stop monetizing very obvious trademarks.
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the ElliotsBlog link is broken
working
so, we can’t no longer use the words “face”and “book”?
“you have to feel a little sorry for them because they are about to get zapped really bad.”
It has been 10 years since the rules were wide open – and up for interpretation by the US Courts and UDRP.
I do not feel sorry for these jerks at all – even if it is the monoply facebook
I’m surprised company typos have lasted this long TBH.
Slightly related
I’d watch your ass if you’re parking at sedo just now, all their related links are defaulting to the AUTOMATIC setting so “IF” you have got any questionable domains that “could” or “may” be perceived as infinging DEPENDING on the ads served you could potentially be vunerable.
(one screen shot could paint a negative picture and put your domains at risk)
I let sedo know about it a week ago and its still not fixed yet…snzzzz 😉
Brian,
“I do not feel sorry for these jerks at all” … I agree.
These are the people who continue to undermine domain investing as a whole.
I’m also going to agree with Brian here
While I don’t take any joy in anyone else misery, its was 1999 that the law was passed that this suit was filed under.
That’s a long time
There are people named in the suit that are experienced smart guys in the domain business and knew the risk they were taking by owning and monetizing such domains.
I think those that monetize those domains should be held liable as well.
Its now 2011
Stuff that people did in 1997, 1999, 2001 can’t happen anymore
You want to play the TM game then you take the risk that your going to have a very bad day as these people did yesterday and will continue to have for quite a while
I don’t think most consider the toll that such a suit takes on you just not financially but emotionally and psychologically, its huge.
Moreover once TM holders start asking for the disgorgement of profits from 5 years or more back we all know how that goes.
We take the income we receive and re-invest it, pay taxes with it, spend it, piss it away
This is life
Think about someone asking you for all the money back you made over years and years, plus attorney fees, plus you attorney fees, plus $100K plus asking for discovery over every domain you own etc etc
Ouch
MHB,
“I think those that monetize those domains should be held liable as well”
Absolutely. 100%
may Sony want the Sony-Microsoft and Microsoft-Sony domains just registered by Microsoft?
@domains market
If Sony sees fit and can demonstrate their claims. And you can’t use face and book together commercially without FB’s consent, just like you can’t do the same for micro and soft, pizza and hut, taco and bell, com and cast, etc.
I hope you’re not going to ask “why?” next. I mean sheesh…
The ‘rules’ are not always easy to know or understand. I registered DaddysDomain.com back in 2002 before most anyone ever heard of Go Daddy including myself, although from what I understand now they have been around from just before that time. I registered it with Dotster I think, but it has been transferred to GoDaddy for some time now (years) I use it now as a site for aftermarket domains but am concerned a little even though I don’t register domain names. Comments? Should I be worried?