Here's a case I know of personally. The "squatter" lost in court recently
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Plumber sues competitor over possible cybersquatting
Thursday, May 20, 2010
By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Fagnelliplumbing.com is the web address, logically enough, where customers can find everything they want to know about the types of services offered by Fagnelli Plumbing Co. in Oakland.
But, the shortened version of that domain name, fagnelli.com, doesn't go to that company at all. Instead, up until two weeks ago, that address redirected visitors to the website of Gillece Services, a larger competitor in the area.
Fagnelli is now accusing Gillece of cybersquatting -- a violation of federal trademark law in which an individual or business buys a domain name that is "identical or confusingly similar" to another in bad faith to profit from it.
"I'm all for a company trying to grow, but I think it becomes a real ethical issue," said Ernie Fagnelli, the company president. "I, certainly, would never think to go in and buy anyone else's names."
Mr. Fagnelli, whose company was founded in 1963, said he only learned of the situation when a friend of the family called and told him about it.
The friend wondered if Fagnelli had sold out to Gillece.
"I was upset," Mr. Fagnelli said.
On April 28, Edward Friedman, who represents Mr. Fagnelli, sent a cease and desist letter to Gillece, asking that the company stop redirecting traffic and transfer ownership of the fagnelli.com domain name to his client.
Although Gillece did stop redirecting web traffic on May 4, it did not transfer ownership of the site. Instead, it sends Internet users to a GoDaddy.com parking website for domain names that have been registered but do not yet contain content.
James Petraglia, Gillece's general counsel, said his client is on solid legal ground.
"It's been extensively researched," he said. "We feel that their claim has no merit whatsoever."
Mr. Petraglia would not, however, address the specific allegations in the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, Gillece registered fagnelli.com on March 1, 2007, and then on Feb. 12, 2009, the company arranged to redirect web traffic to Gillece Services' site.
Because of the diversion, Fagnelli argues that it likely lost potential customers to Gillece.
"What they're doing is wrong and unfair," Mr. Friedman said. "We asked them to stop, and they refused. We have no choice but to proceed in this manner."
Camille Ede, director of domain services for GoDaddy.com, said her company can't do anything about the dispute.
"It's up to the complaining party to defend their trademark," she said. "It's up to a judge or jury to determine if there's an infringement."
She noted, though, that when a registrant signs up, they agree that they will not use the domain name in bad faith. Redirecting traffic, Ms. Ede continued, will likely just make Fagnelli Plumbing's case stronger.
Buying a domain name is an inexpensive process, and most dot-coms can be registered for about $10 per year.
Mr. Fagnelli's lawsuit alleges that Gillece has registered more than 180 domain names that are "identical or confusingly similar," to the marks of other competitors in the Pittsburgh area.
Arthur Simqu says that he is one of them. He runs Simqu Electric Co. When he attempted to register the domain name simquelectric.com, he found it had already been taken. It, too, used to go to Gillece's website, Mr. Simqu said, and now just redirects to godaddy.com parking.
"It irritates the hell out of me someone has to stoop that low to prevent other contractors from doing business in the area," Mr. Simqu said.
"There's so much work out there that I don't need to compete and go head-to-head with someone to get business," Mr. Fagnelli said.
Mr. Fagnelli is seeking both damages and court costs in his cybersquatting claim.
Read more: post-gazette.com/pg/10140/1059521-28.stm#ixzz1GCPZOSjd
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