department Tag
legal department
Trademark
Infringement
dozier
how it happenS, and how to Stop it though it reflects a far more nefarious moti-
vation: Business sabotage. Embarrassing
sites that look like your business are
How valuablE iS your buSinESS launched, “your” business sends out 10
or product name? Most small and
By John dozier million emails and “your” employees post
mid-size businesses aren’t aware of outrageous and embarrassing comments
the value of protecting trademarks. When who launches websites embedded with your under your company name.
the focus is on making payroll, monitoring name in content and tags. Don’t forget about
sales, providing quality customer service your competitor down the street who might What should you do?
and reaching financial projections, it might use a misspelled domain name that resembles The odds your name will be stolen are
not seem like a top priority to police the your URL or the competitor you haven’t met high. The odds it will be sabotaged are low.
web for thieves. — perhaps in Europe — who buys PPC ads For every 1,000 trademark complaints we
However, it ought to be. Others steal your using your name. receive, perhaps 10 involve sabotage. One
name to hurt you. Such theft has an immedi- percent is an acceptable risk to some, but
ate impact on your sales, retentions and How do they do it? not to others.
service costs — which pounds your bottom The most troublesome and difficult to Regardless of your level of concern,
line. So, as someone who represents both the combat are the “hit and run” campaigns that there is no justification for not policing
infringed and the infringers on a regular basis, I use seemingly untraceable email marketing your names if you are serious about your
offer the following comments. techniques, short-lived websites and domain business. Register the names with the
name “tasting.” There are an infinite number U.S. trademark office and perhaps one or
How does it happen? of techniques in use today and more being two other offices. Consistently review the
You may not know how to find or developed for tomorrow. Thieves always try PPC ads and organic search engine results
recognize trademark theft. It is likely designed to stay ahead of the game. (including blogs and forums) using a variety
to avoid detection. For example, if someone of search terms. Participate in an “alert”
steals your name and uses it in a search Why do they do it? system. Be prepared to act promptly to go
engine pay-per-click (PPC) campaign, the Consider that the essence of trademark on the attack if the situation calls for it.
thief might not run the ad in the geographic protection is to try to ensure the public is Do the right thing at the right time, and the
location of your company headquarters. You not confused into thinking another business infringers will move on to an easier mark.
won’t see the advertisement in your state is your business. The first motivation for
(with a few exceptions), but everyone else in a trademark infringer is obvious: To make
the world will. money. Infringers do this by direct competition
against your company, by acting as affiliate
John Dozier is president of Dozier
Who does it? marketers or lead brokers of your competitors
Internet Law, PC, a law firm repre-
Anyone could hijack your name — from or by selling the leads they generate.
senting small and mid-sized online
the well-respected Internet companies The second reason for such theft is more
businesses. He can be reached at
that use popular terms to drive traffic with in the category of unfair competition than
jwd@cybertriallawyer.com or online
no attempt to filter out trademarks, to the pure trademark infringement. Sadly, it has
at Cybertriallawyer.com.
15-year-old affiliate marketer in South America received virtually no attention in the media
42 //// Practical EcommErcE //// march/april 2007