Cybersquatting
Cybersquatting is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name in bad faith to profit from someone else's trademark — for example, registering a brand's name to ransom it back, divert its customers, or trade on its reputation. It is the practice that domain-dispute mechanisms like the UDRP were created to address.
Cybersquatting vs. legitimate domain investing
The dividing line is the trademark and the intent. Registering generic words, descriptive phrases, geographic terms, or invented brandables to resell is ordinary domain investing. Registering names whose value depends on someone else's brand — the company name itself, obvious misspellings of it, or brand-plus-keyword combinations — is where bad faith gets inferred. The same string can be fine or infringing depending on how it is used and marketed.
Remedies trademark holders use
- •UDRP proceedings: an ICANN policy administered by providers like WIPO and Forum; the remedy is transfer or cancellation of the domain.
- •Court action: in the United States, the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) allows lawsuits with statutory damages of up to $100,000 per domain.
- •Registrar and registry mechanisms: some TLDs offer additional rapid-suspension procedures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is cybersquatting illegal?
It is actionable. Under the UDRP a bad-faith registration can be transferred to the trademark holder, and under laws like the US ACPA it can also mean statutory damages. Registering generic names without targeting a mark is not cybersquatting.
How is typosquatting related?
Typosquatting is a subset: registering misspellings of a brand to catch its mistyped traffic. Because the value comes entirely from the targeted brand, typo domains of trademarks are among the clearest cybersquatting cases.