Webcast
Combatting Cybersquatting: ICANN's Rights Protections Mechanisms
Streams live on Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at 01:30pm EST
Course Information
Course Description
Protecting trademarks from infringement in the cyber marketplace has never been more important to businesses, but they and their representatives must also appreciate the difference between cybersquatting and lawful registration of domain names. There can be no cybersquatting for domain names acquired prior to the use of marks in commerce; and for owners whose marks predate domain name registration priority alone is not sufficient to prove cybersquatting. In the United States there are two major domain name-focused regimes for combatting cybersquatting: the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), which both became effective in 1999.
In this program, four highly experienced intellectual property attorneys will discuss the rights protection mechanisms implemented by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICAAN) and the evidentiary demands on the parties to establish their claims either of cybersquatting or lawful registration of domain name. It is important for attorneys in this area of practice to not only be familiar with the substantive and procedural provisions of the rights protection mechanisms (principally the UDRP), but to also have a working knowledge of the jurisprudence that has developed for balancing parties’ rights.
Learning Objectives:
- Review ICANN’s Rights Protection Mechanisms in the context of conflicting interests
- Discuss conflicting interests between mark owners, small businesses, and investors, and the different perspectives of the rights protection mechanisms
- Establish the fundamental elements of cybersquatting claims and defenses
- Examine the differences between inherent and acquired marks, and trademark value versus semantic value
- Lawfully buy, warehouse, resell, and monetize domain names
- Identify the separate value of dictionary words, alone or combined, descriptive phrases, arbitrary letters, and acronyms
- Use evidentiary demands to prove and rebut cybersquatting claims
- Draft UDRP complaints, including the combination of Notice of Claim and motion for summary judgment
- Analyze the emergence and development of a jurisprudence of domain names
Credit Information
Faculty
Gerald Levine
Faculty Member
Gerald M. Levine, Esq. is the author of the recently published Second Edition of Domain Name Arbitration, A Practical Guide to Asserting and Defending Claims of Cybersquatting. His numerous articles have appeared in law journals and online publications and he is a frequent contributor of analytical blogs on domain names and cybersquatting for www.udrpsearch.com. Besides having a litigation practice, he represents and counsels clients on a range of issues and disputes relating to copyright and trademark practice and law. He is on the panel of neutral arbitrators for commercial and intellectual property disputes for the American Arbitration Association, and the Final Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA); on the mediator Panel for commercial disputes for the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court, New York County, and for Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. He received his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1975 and PhD from New York University in 1968.
Georges Nahitchevansky
Kilpatrick Townsend
Georges Nahitchevansky, Esq. is a partner in the law firm of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP. Mr. Nahitchevansky is an intellectual property attorney with particular focus on trademarks both as a litigator and counselor. He is on the WIPO panel neutrals for UDRP disputes.
Gregory S. Shatan
Moses Singer
Gregory Shatan, Esq. is a partner in Moses & Singer, LLP. He represents trademark owners and has been active in ICANN working groups and co-chairs a sub-team focused on the Sunrise Program.. Credit Types: CLE (General) Topics: Law (Intellectual Property, Trademarks and Cybersquatting).
Jason Schaeffer
ESQwire.com, P.C.
Jason Schaeffer is of counsel at ESQwire.com, P.C., where he has successfully defended over 150 UDRP disputes and obtained a significant number of RDNH findings. His practice also includes trademark litigation and counseling, Anticybersquating Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) claims, and representation in the buying and selling of high value domain names & domain portfolios.
Since 2011, Jason has been active with ICANN and the new gTLD program, representing Registry applicants, handling Legal Rights Objections (LROs), Community Priority Evaluation and Objections, Requests for Reconsideration and petitions to the ICANN Board. He also worked with parties in connection with the resolution of nearly 10 string contentions, and has experience launching new TLDs and working with Registry backend technical providers and the global Registrar channel. Jason is also active in ICANN working groups focused on rights protection mechanisms (RPMs) and subsequent procedures, and served as chair for the Practitioner's sub-team on RPMs.