Trademark Law

Cybersquatting On The George Bush Library Name

By Enrico Schaefer

Our lawyers all always amazed by articles such as the one in the Dallas Morning News, which highlights all of the people who have registered variations of George Bush's name, and the name of his library. There has been a lot of commentary recently about cybersquatting on politician names. Many of the uses noted below arguably meet the definition of unlawful cybersquatting under both the UDRP and ACPA. But no one quoted in the article seems to be aware that the registration of domains incorporating famous names such as George Bush is unlawful, subjecting them to damages in excess of $100,000.00

Bush library searches for Web site name 1:45 PM CT | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Headline | National and International News

What?s in a name? Plenty when Web users are looking for a recognizable brand. Here are some sites registered by owners other than the Bush Library Foundation:

GeorgeWBushLibrary.net ? web company Illuminati Karate, Raleigh, N.C. (adlink site and a clear violation of cybersquatting laws).

GeorgeWBushLibrary.org ? Chickenhead Productions, an anti-Bush Web site

(Does not appear to meet the gripe site test, and thus first amendment protection).

TheGeorgeWBushLibrary.com ? Domains By Proxy (Does not appear to meet the gripe site test, and thus first amendment protection).

Full post as published by Domain Name Dispute Blog on March 31, 2008 (boomark / email).