Technology and the Internet have led to the increase of trademark infringement, brand dilution, anti-competitive behavior, web traffic diversion and various online scams, such as phishing, identity theft, cybersmearing, direct solicitation and stock market manipulation schemes.
The situation is often described as the “wild west” implying a lack of law and order; however, this should not be the case as there are methods of ensuring that infringements and fraudulent schemes are identified early and dealt with appropriately.
While we acknowledge that it is difficult to identify and resolve every fraudulent or infringing act targeting businesses online, we believe that the implementation of the correct monitoring mechanisms and responsive strategic action makes it possible to identify and resolve a vast majority of these activities.
IP CYPRUS and our associates provide comprehensive brand protection and management services with pro-active solutions to mitigate our client’s exposure to online risk.
Our brand protection services are structured on a fixed fee model in order to reduce the costs of enforcing your copyright and trademarks online.
DOMAIN RECOVERY
If you missed the opportunity to secure your trademark, brand or corporate name as a domain name you may still be able to recover it through strategic negotiation or via the various dispute resolution procedures.
Recovering a domain name or negotiating its purchase requires experience and strategic planning. We work with our clients to explore the most cost-effective and efficient method of acquiring wanted domain names.
A thorough investigation is undertaken to determine the prospects of a successful recovery; this may include a domain name audit. The strength of our client’s rights is assessed against the registrant’s rights.
Pro-active steps are also considered to limit exposure to future risk or infringement, which could include registering domain names in other generic extensions or country code extensions.
The Domain Name Assessment results are discussed with the client to establish a recovery strategy setting out the “worst case“ and “best case“ scenarios.
DISPUTES
Cybersquatters and typosquatters have become sophisticated concentrating their efforts developing schemes to profit from trademark owners by registering domains that are identical or confusingly similar to registered trademark and company names or that correspond to recent news events such as mergers and takeovers.
IP CYPRUS and our Associates are able to draft the appropriate communications to recover a domain name as well as prepare and submit a domain name complaint with the relevant dispute resolution forums irrespective of the language (UDRP, Nominet DRS, ZA ADR, Eurid DRS).
TAKE-DOWNS
Our website take-down service gives you the power to tackle:
- online copyright infringements
- online trademark infringements
- phishing sites
Our take-down service provides a hassle-free, efficient and cost-effective way of removing trademark and copyright infringements and fraudulent websites that harm your reputation. We also monitor the source of these violations to ensure that they do not reoccur.
WATCH SERVICES
Monitoring your trademark online is essential for protecting your brand against the threat of cybersquatting, typosquatting, and other infringements, and for safeguarding your reputation and revenue.
Our comprehensive domain watch service identifies risks and infringements in:
- all generic extensions (.com, .net, .org, .info)
- new generic extensions (.online, .bank, .london, .sucks)
- over 400 country code extensions (.us, co.za, co.uk)
Our watch service reports are issued on a weekly or monthly basis. It lists all the domains that were registered during a specific time period, which incorporate or are confusingly similar to your trademark. The results are analyzed by a specialist who will recommended action steps for each domain.
As a precursor to employing our domain name watch service, we will carry out a free domain name audit so that we can assess the health of your domain name portfolio and maximize the impact of our monitoring and protection action.
FRAUDULENT SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE SHOPPING LISTINGS
Social Media has created a brand new channel for trademark infringement. Fake social media pages are easy for a scammer to create but often difficult for the trademark owner to take down.
IP CYPRUS can take down infringing pages on Facebook and Twitter as well as thousands of counterfeit product listings from eBay, Amazon and Alibaba.
Counterfeit online shopping listings are becoming more common and can have serious implications for online retailers including lost revenue and brand dilution. Social media and market place stores not only requiring monitoring but proactive take-downs. We can help you protect your brand within the social media space.
