QUESTION
What falls under company name violations; specifically regarding cyber law and domain names?
Asked on Oct 20th, 2011 on Business Law - Maine
More details to this question:
Our company Maine Monument Service (Svc.) was established in 1989 as a memorial monument dealer in the state of Maine. A recent website has been created in 2011 using the domain name mainemonument.com describing our services and brand. With further investigation a local competitor has an established website with the domain name "mainemonuments.com" only difference being the "S". This domain was created in 2003.
This competitor offers the same business as our company. Monument sales, cleaning, lettering, and restoration but has a completely different company name.
Do we as a company have legal standing to have the domain name changed as it is almost in direct reference to our company? The work provided by this company we believe will diminish our brand and will cause problems with our new business website.
We are currently not registered as a trademark and neither is the competitor.
Thank you in advance.
1 ANSWER
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You have potential claims for "cybersquatting" and infringement of your common-law trademark. You need to consult with an attorney who practices in this area to determine what the best way is to proceed. The particular method of obtaining redress may depend on what steps, if any, you have taken to protect your company name as a trademark. Our office practices in this area, and we'd be happy to discuss the situation with you and the range of possible actions to obtain redress.
Answered on Oct 22nd, 2011 at 9:31 AM