CitizenHawk,in a press release this morning has introduced “a cloud-based software tool that automates the process of filing a UDRP thus enabling companies to recover domains from typosquatters and other domain infringers at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods”.
“HawkUDRP™ collects relevant evidence, generates the necessary UDRP documentation and completes the entire process quickly and cost effectively. HawkUDRP can generate filing packages compliant with National Arbitration Forum (NAF), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and Dispute Resolution Services (DRS) procedures. Moreover, the new tool boasts the ability to “clump” multiple offending sites sharing common (though often hidden) ownership, enabling brands to recover numerous domains in a single filing.”
“Typosquatters continue to plague legitimate businesses – especially those that have been particularly successful in building their brands and generating website traffic,” said David Duckwitz, CitizenHawk’s president and chief executive. “The practice, which is growing an estimated 30 percent a year, is costing brands hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Companies can now fight back without having to engage higher priced legal counsel.”
“CitizenHawk has been extraordinarily effective in UDRP proceedings, winning more than 99 percent of cases filed, and HawkUDRP gives users access to the same automated processes and technology that CitizenHawk itself uses to pursue infringing domains. The company is offering HawkUDRP as a complementary product to its core HawkDiscovery™ online brand protection platform.”
“Like CitizenHawk’s other brand protection tools, HawkUDRP is seamlessly integrated into HawkDiscovery’s workflow and case management system, which tracks and records every action and permits sharing with as many authorized individuals as desired.”
Make it easier for thieves to steal domains legally.
Sounds like it could lead to claims about abusing the legal process.
Abuse of the legal process, like that hasn’t already happend.
There are many abuses but it will keep happening unless claims are made and sanctions requested.
Just last week the federal court was asked to award sanctions for that bogus lawsuit that was filed by Domain Tools. In fact a lawyer involved with Domain Tools posted right here on this blog:
“So, file an action seeking damages, serve it, claim damages not to exceed $10,000 and wait for a default. Then try to enforce the default. The reason for the damage limit is to force them into a situation of spending more than $10,000 to defend in AZ or default.”
The court has been asked to award judgements totaling $20K related to that posting. Now they are in a situation where the original case is dismissed but they still have to answer the sanctions.
if companies were smart they’d use udrp to get the domains from citizenhawk and markmonitor and then they’d get 100% of the earnings from typo traffic, if any, plus they wouldn’t have to pay these “services”.
instead citizenhawk and markmonitor take a cut for themselves by being typosquatters. why are they typosquatters? because 1. they do not own or license the trademark 2. they do not sell whatever it is the trademark applies to; they don’t even redirect to the corporate site and 3., despite this, they profit from having these typo domains in their portfolios. in sum, they offer zero value. they are vampires.
now that companies are wising up and learning how to file udrps to get domains that infringe their trademarks, citizenhawk wants to try to take a cut from that too. parasites.