Technology, Media & Intellectual Property Law Alerts
By Eric Packel, Esq. (215-575-4554 or eapackel@mdwcg.com)
Utah May Become The First State To Pass An Anti-Cybersquatting Law.
Cybersquatting is the bad faith use of an Internet domain name with the intent to profit from someone else's trademark. Typically, a cybersquatter will offer to sell the domain to the entity that owns the trademark, but at an exorbitant price. Although there is an existing federal anti-cybersquatting law (see 15 U.S.C. Section 1125(d)), the proposed Utah legislation would allow Utah businesses to have a state court remedy. Also, unlike the federal act, the Utah law would provide protection against cybersquatting for personal names and would exempt domain name registrars from liability except in cases of bad faith or reckless disregard. The Utah bill is now out of committee, and the full Utah Senate is considering the bill. Text of the pending bill, known as the Utah E-Commerce Integrity Act, can be found here: http://le.utah.gov/~2010/bills/sbillamd/sb0026.htm
