Cybersquatting, also called domain squatting, is the practice of registering, trafficking in or using an internet domain name with a bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The term derives from squatting, the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building without ownership, rental agreement or other permission to use it, applied here to the unauthorized occupation of a domain name that trades on another party's established trademark.
Facts
Elements of OffenseRegistering, trafficking in, or using an Internet domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of someone else's trademark 1 Notable ExamplePanavision Int'l, L.P. v. Toeppen (9th Cir. 1998) 1 Jurisdiction VariationSome countries, including the United States (Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, 1999), have specific laws beyond ordinary trademark law 1 Classification
Offense GradeMinor or Summary Offense 1 Connections
Has Offense Grade
Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Cybersquatting (Wikipedia)
Lead paragraph, first sentence
registering, trafficking in, or using an Internet domain name, with a bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else
In the United States of America, first sentence
Some countries have specific laws against cybersquatting beyond the normal rules of trademark law.
Notable cases, With litigation, United States
Panavision Int'l, L.P. v. Toeppen 141 F.3d 1316 (9th Cir. 1998)
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