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Valuable domain name Bespoke.com hit with another cybersquatting complaint

by — Policy & Law 12 Comments

Yet another company called Bespoke wants to get Bespoke.com without paying for it.

Yep, it’s in the dictionary.

When Garth Piesse paid $18,805 to acquire the domain name Bespoke.com in an expired domain name auction in 2014, I bet he didn’t expect to be hit with a couple cybersquatting complaints.

But he has.

First, a Swiss company filed a UDRP and lost. Now, a Louisiana company has filed a cybersquatting lawsuit in U.S. court (pdf).

Plaintiff Bespoke LLC markets custom tours in New Orleans. It was created in 2013.

It claims that Piesse is cybersquatting by holding the generic and dictionary domain name Bespoke.com.

From what I can tell in the lawsuit, it appears that the Louisiana company inquired through a Uniregistry Market landing page about buying the domain name. Piesse responded with an $8.5 million asking price.

The Louisiana company’s lawsuit claims: Click here to continue reading…

Owner of HighbrowMagazine.com demands Highbrow.com domain name

by — Policy & Law 6 Comments

Company that owns Highbrow.com paid about $20,000 for the domain name.

highbrowThe owner of an online publication at HighbrowMagazine.com has threatened the owners of Highbrow.com, demanding that they turn the domain name over to her.

Highbrow.com’s owner has filed a lawsuit in federal district court seeking declaratory judgment that their use of the domain name does not infringe HighbrowMagazine.com’s owners.

HighbrowMagazine.com describes itself as “a liberal, general-interest magazine covering arts/entertainment, politics, media, food, and travel”.

Highbrow.com is beauty blog launched last year. Its owners, Highbrow, LLC, paid about $20,000 to acquire the domain name.

In December last year, Highbrow Magazine, LLC sent a cease & desist letter to Highbrow, LLC. It demanded that Highbrow, LLC stop using the name and transfer the domain name. The cease & desist letter, the first of three, was sent through a company called The Trademark Company.

Now Highbrow, LLC is asking a U.S. District Court in Oregon for declaratory judgment and to cancel HighBrow Magazine’s trademarks.

Click to see the lawsuit filing…

Stanley Pace sues for alleged Reverse Domain Name Hijacking

by — Policy & Law 7 Comments

Pace sues after losing UDRP to dancewear company.

Stanley Pace, a Texas resident who has faced his fair share of UDRP complaints, lost another one last month. A three member UDRP panel ordered the domain name Yumiko.com transferred to dancewear company Yumiko, LLC.

He’s fighting back to halt the transfer and is asking for damages under the Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act for reverse domain name hijacking.

Pace filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas on December 30. This will halt the transfer of the domain name, and now Yumiko will find itself on the defensive.

Howard Neu, who represented Pace in the UDRP, is also representing him in the lawsuit. Click here to continue reading…

This company thinks domain name investing violates U.S. law

by — Policy & Law 19 Comments

Company’s response in WorkBetter.com lawsuit suggests that new businesses should be able to get old domain names.

Last week I wrote about a cybersquatting lawsuit filed against the owner of WorkBetter.com. A new company has sprung up using the descriptive name Work Better, and it wants the 16-year-old .com domain name.

Office Space Solutions asked the court for a temporary restraining order to prevent the domain’s owner, Jason Kneen, from transferring the domain name. Kneen filed a response, and now Office Space Solutions has responded to that (pdf).

It’s clear from reading Office Space Solutions’ response, that it actually believes that owning descriptive, dictionary and generic domain names with the idea of some day selling them to another company or person violates the law. It believes that the 1999 U.S. Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) was created to stop this practice.

Office Space Solutions’ lawyers write: Click here to continue reading…

St. Louis bank sues to take over gripe domains

by — Policy & Law 0 Comments

Bank and board member file cybersquatting claim over two domain names they call defamatory.

Midwest BankCentre, a bank in St. Louis, has filed a lawsuit to get control of the domain names MidwestBankCheated.com and JerryScheideggerCheatedMe.com. Jerry Scheidegger is a board member of the bank.

Both domain names lead to content making allegations about the bank and a foreclosure. The allegations are made in response to a foreclosure in which the person claims Scheidegger was enriched after buying property out of the foreclosure.

The lawsuit is an in rem action under the since both domain names are protected by GoDaddy’s whois proxy service. Given the content on the domain names, I’m sure the bank knows who is behind them. Click here to continue reading…