Orange County Domain Name Dispute Lawyer
The Internet is indeed a double-edged sword. While legitimate business owners have gained a nimble medium in which to promote their goods and services, predatory third parties are hard at work to develop new ways to interfere and poach. As a result, the laws pertaining to the Internet are evolving as rapidly as the medium itself. Our lawyers are well-versed in the tactics these predatory third parties use and the latest legal developments available to you and your company.
Some of the wide-ranging Internet-related services that the attorneys at TKLG provide include, drafting and negotiating web site development and hosting agreements, joint marketing and co-branding agreements, registering domain names and docketing deadlines for renewal, monitoring third-party uses of our clients’ trademarks and copyrights, policing counterfeits of our clients’ products, drafting cease and desist letters and, where appropriate, instituting litigation.
When our clients find that someone has registered the domain name equivalent of their brand or product name, we can file a Uniform Dispute Resolution Proceeding (UDRP) to recover the domain name. We have recovered numerous infringing or disparaging domain names from these “cybersquatters” who attempt to capitalize on our clients’ trademarks and brand names.
Since prevention and detection are the keys to avoiding disputes, we also work with clients to develop sound Internet strategies and policies for their businesses. The attorneys at TKLG can advise your company about key word advertising issues, copyright misuse, domain name registration protocols and strategies that will insulate your company and portfolio.
Representative Cases:
The founder of The Kinder Law Group, Brian P. Kinder, has litigated many high-profile domain name disputes over the course of his career. Many of the precedent setting decisions that Mr. Kinder has obtained on behalf of his clients have subsequently been cited numerous times as precedent in later cases. The following is a representative sample of some of the more noteworthy cases handled by Mr. Kinder:
Defy Media v. Virtual Point (WIPO Case No. 2015-1249) [addicting-games.com]: When a well-financed company (successor to Viacom) filed a UDRP action with WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland, Mr. Kinder contacted the company’s in-house counsel and offered them an opportunity to withdraw the complaint before he filed his response. When they refused, Mr. Kinder defended the action and proved that the other side was using the UDRP process in bad faith and attempting to take by force what was not rightfully theirs.
City Title Loan, LLC v. Bellnames Privacy Protection Service (WIPO Case No. 2012-2021) [cityloan.com]: After filing a comprehensive complaint before the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, Mr. Kinder successfully negotiated the immediate transfer of the domain name.
Diamond Mattress Company, Inc. v. Diamond Mattress (WIPO Case No. D2010-1637) [diamondmattress.net] and [diamondmattress.org]: When a customer registered the domain name equivalent of a client’s brand name, Mr. Kinder coordinated a legal strategy that firmly, yet respectfully, took back what rightfully belonged to the client. The relationship with the client was preserved while maintaining the client’s rights.
Gilead Sciences v. Kumar Patel (WIPO Case No. D2005-0831) [gilead-sciences.com] – In this UDRP proceeding, a sophisticated cybersquatter had registered the hyphenated domain name equivalent of the names for several high profile companies, including many in the pharmaceutical industry. The cybersquatter attempted to create a First Amendment defense relating to Freedom of Speech by creating a website that featured highly inflammatory (and wholly untrue) statements concerning the target companies. Despite lawyers for other companies being unsuccessful in their efforts to recover the domain names, TKLG founder Brian Kinder created and implemented a sophisticated research strategy to gather evidence demonstrating bad faith registration and use (as opposed to a legitimately aggrieved and legitimate free speech issue). The domain name was ordered transferred to the client.
Crystal Cathedral v. Ed Stuivenberg (World Intellectual Property Organization) Case No. D2002-0102 [thehourofpower.com]: A cybersquatter registered the domain name equivalent of a religious program broadcast throughout the world. He then put up a pornographic website in an effort to extort a quick settlement. Instead, Mr. Kinder quickly and inexpensively obtained a transfer order on behalf of the client.
