Protecting your rights

If you have an idea of how the squatters are working and at the same time know what rights you have, then it is easier to prevent this squatting activity. It can be a really time-consuming task to make sure nobody is piggybacking on your trademark on the Internet, but there are tools to help you.

Strider URL Tracer

Microsoft recently released their new tool called Strider URL Tracer. It is a tool that will help you keep track of all typos of your domain names that are in use by a third-party. The program scans the Internet for common typos of your domain name and gives you a report containing the typo domains that are in use. That way it will be an easy task for you, as a domain name owner, to make sure nobody is infringing on your trademarks.

Mark Alert

Domaintools.com provides a free service that they call Mark Alert. First you register the trademarks that you want to monitor at their webpage. Then their service will compare your trademark with newly registered domain names to control if any of these matches your trademarks. If they get a match, they will notify you and you can then take legal actions against the registrant if needed.