Lexsynergy Successfully Represents UDRP Respondent

Over the years, Lexsynergy has represented dozens of trademark owners by filing UDRP complaints and recovering domain names that are infringing on their trademark rights. We recently turned the tables and successfully represented a respondent in a UDRP case.

Our client registered the domain visualvoice.com in 1995 and has used the site intermittently to display his personal artwork and build an artist community. Over the years, he had received many offers to purchase the domain but he never sold. In June 2016, a company filed a UDRP complaint stating that the domain was an infringement on their trademark, Visual Voice, which was registered with the USPTO in 2013 (18 years after the domain was originally registered).

Lexsynergy was able to prove that the respondent has rights and a legitimate interest in the domain name by showing his use of the domain name throughout the years. We also proved that the respondent did not register or use the domain name in bad faith and that he has never had an interest in selling the domain.

The UDRP Panel sided with the respondent and ordered that the ownership of the domain remain with our client.

Read the full decision here: http://www.adrforum.com/domaindecisions/1684725.htm

Lexsynergy has a 100% success rate in UDRP cases. Whether you feel someone is infringing on your trademark or if a trademark owner is wrongly accusing you of infringement, Lexsynergy can help you win your case.

Contact us today for help with your domain dispute – brandprotection@lexsynergy.com.

.AU Celebrates 30 Years As Australia's Home On The Internet

The internet has changed a lot in the 30 years since .au became Australia’s home. For the world, it was when Crocodile Dundee was released and opened up Australia to the world's eyes! Back in 1986 organisations were only entitled to one domain name each, there was no domain name aftermarket and the number of registrations were in the low thousands. Today there are over three million .au domain names registered and it’s considered one of the safer TLDs. Coming up are more major changes with the introduction of second level registrations for the first time in the next year or two and the choice of registration periods from one to five years.

To register your Australian domain name, email us at support@lexsynergy.com

Is .CAM A Scam?

The new generic extension .CAM (Camera) has launched and is currently in the Sunrise phase, which ends on 20 November 2016.

This new extension is a worry for online businesses, where a slight typo can direct an Internet user to an unintended destination. www.facebook.com vs. www.facebook.cam – is confusing at first glance until you realise the only difference is an “a” for an “o”.

Internet users are impatient and do not take time to read a URL, which creates an avenue for phishing and other online scams. Some studies have proven that our brain pays attention only to the first and the last letter, abandoning the middle letter.

Is it a coincidence that if you add the letter “s” to .cam you get .scam?

We do not suggest that client’s panic but rather take the proactive step and register a .cam domain name that matches its primary .com domain names, which are associated with active website. The cost of a registration is far lower than the risk of an infringement or the consequences that flow from a scam.

The launch information for .cam can be found at http://www.lexsynergy.com/tlds/cam. If you wish to register a .cam domain, email your account manager or support@lexsynergy.com.

Business of Domains - One Day Seminar in Nairobi

Lexsynergy is hosting a one-day seminar in Nairobi, Kenya on 11 October 2016. This seminar will teach entrepreneurs how to establish and maintain a profitable business selling domain names in Kenya and throughout Africa. Our reseller program provides access to over 1000 domain name extensions including 50 African country extensions.

If you are interested in attending the seminar and learning more about our African reseller program, RSVP to info@lexsynergy.co.ke. Space is limited to the first 40 participants so book your place now.

Donuts Introduces DPML Plus

Donuts Inc., a registry that manages nearly 200 new gTLDs, has announced an expansion to its domain-blocking services with its new offering called DPML Plus. They also announced that they will be raising the price for their standard DPML block beginning January 2017.

For those who are unfamiliar, a Domains Protected Marks List (DPML) block prevents unauthorized third parties (i.e. domain squatters) from registering your trademark within any of the Donuts TLDs. For example, Lexsynergy could purchase a DPML block for the trademark “lexsynergy” and this would block other parties from registering domains like lexsynergy.business, lexsynergy.email or lexsynergy.guru. This standard block only includes domains that are an exact match to the trademark.

DPML Plus
The new DMPL Plus allows trademark owners to block an exact match of their trademark plus three additional terms that are either misspells or contains the exact match. For example, with a single DPML Plus purchase, Lexsynergy could receive a block on all of the following:

• Lexsynergy – the exact match
• Lexsynergyinc – contains the trademark
• Lexsynergydomains – contains the trademark
• Lexssynergy – a misspell

Here are some of the features of the DPML Plus:

• The blocks are for 10-years vs. the current 5-year standard block (renewals are still for 1-year)
• It blocks the terms across all Donuts TLD, including all standard and premium domain names
• Includes unlimited free overrides for the duration of the 10-year term
• The DPML Plus blocks are not subject to override registrations by other parties with the same trademark (this is allowed with the standard 5-year block).
• There is an option to add additional misspells/contains for an additional fee. 
• Current Donuts DPML holders can purchase a DPML Plus block and replace their current block for 10 years.

A DPML block has been a cost-effective way for trademark owners to protect their brands within the new gTLD space.  Donut’s new pricing levels, especially the DMPL Plus, may make a block less feasible for trademark owners; however, it is still an efficient and cost-effective option. A standard DPML block or a DPML Plus block should be carefully considered for high priority trademarks.

DPML Plus is only available from now until 31 March 2017. If you are interested in purchasing a new DPML block or converting your standard DPML to a DPML Plus please contact your account manager or email our support team at support@lexsynergy.com as soon as possible so we can process this for you. If you have any additional questions or would like to receive the pricing for DPML Plus, please email support@lexsynergy.com.