Top Level Domains and Trademark Rights: An Overview

70 questions on top level domains and trademark rights, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are blockchain domains like .eth subject to the UDRP?
• Are some top-level domains restricted?
• Are the ACPA bad-faith factors a scorecard?
• Can a cybersquatter transfer a domain away during a UDRP proceeding?
• Can a registrant recover damages if a trademark owner won a UDRP by lying?
• Can a registrant who loses a UDRP proceeding challenge the result in court?
• Can common-law trademarks be recorded in the Trademark Clearinghouse?
• Can delay cost a trademark owner its domain dispute remedies?
• Can I sue a registrar or registry for a cybersquatter's conduct?
• Do any top-level domains build security policy into the namespace?
• Does a top-level domain add trademark significance to a mark?
• Does .com pricing reflect open market competition?
• Do you need a federal trademark registration to bring an ACPA claim?
• How did ICANN respond to the WHOIS blackout?
• How did the GDPR change WHOIS?
• How do brand owners unmask an anonymous domain registrant today?
• How does the Domain Name System hierarchy work?
• How does the URS differ from the UDRP?
• How should a brand owner choose between the UDRP and the ACPA?
• How should a brand owner combine the Trademark Clearinghouse with a watch service?
• How should a business build domain abuse investigation into its process?
• How should a company protect its domain portfolio operationally?
• Is a domain name property?
• Is there a circuit split over re-registration under the ACPA?
• Is there a remedy for cybersquatting on a personal name?
• Is using a domain privacy service evidence of bad faith?
• Should I build a brand on a generic.com domain name?
• What are DNS spoofing and DNS hijacking?
• What are the advantages and limits of the UDRP?
• What are the elements of an ACPA cybersquatting claim?
• What are the nine bad-faith factors under the ACPA?
• What are the practical differences between the URS, the UDRP, and the ACPA?
• What are the practical takeaways from Booking.com?
• What are the three elements of a UDRP complaint?
• What are the trade-offs of proceeding in rem under the ACPA?
• What did the Supreme Court decide in USPTO v. Booking.com?
• What does the Domain Name System actually do?
• What factors drive the size of an ACPA statutory damages award?
• What fact patterns commonly establish bad faith under the ACPA?
• What is a country-code top-level domain (ccTLD)?
• What is a generic top-level domain (gTLD)?
• What is a sponsored top-level domain?
• What is a top-level domain (TLD)?
• What is cybersquatting?
• What is ICANN and what does it do?
• What is in rem jurisdiction under the ACPA?
• What is reverse domain name hijacking?
• What is the ACPA safe harbor and how broadly do courts read it?
• What is the Claims service and how does it differ from Sunrise?
• What is the difference between a registry, a registrar, and a registrant?
• What is the repurposing problem with country-code domains?
• What is the Sunrise service for new gTLDs?
• What is the Trademark Clearinghouse?
• What is the Trademark Clearinghouse's biggest limitation?
• What is the Trademark PDDRP?
• What is the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS)?
• What is typosquatting?
• What should a brand owner check before building on a country-code domain?
• What should a buyer check when purchasing a valuable domain name?
• What statutory damages are available under the ACPA?
• What was ICANN's new gTLD program?
• What was WHOIS and what did brand owners use it for?
• When can a registrar face liability in a domain dispute?
• When is distinctiveness measured for an ACPA claim?
• Which top-level domains should a business register defensively?
• Why did the new gTLD program create trademark risk?
• Why does it matter whether a domain name is property?
• Why is much of domain name law private contract rather than statute?
• Why is the choice of top-level domain a legal decision, not just a marketing one?
• Why is the second-level domain the most consequential naming decision?