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Once you register your own domain name, you may unfortunately have to worry about names that are close to the one (or ones) you registered. That’s because people called “cybersquatters” buy up domain names similar to your company’s trademark and then use them dishonestly. When this happens, the cybersquatter, once he or she builds up some sales or AdSense money from the domain name will try to sell it to you, and they’ll try to sell it to you at a premium. Some cybersquatters will attempt to charge thousands of dollars for the domain name – a pretty brazen practice since you would be the one with the rights to the name and trademark in the first place.

How can you protect your company from cybersquatters? The first thing you need to find out is whether or not domain names similar to your trademark are being registered and misused. You can do this by signing up for Google Alerts. This free service allows individuals or businesses to keep track of websites, comments, or news items that are made about a particular web domain or brand.

Should you receive an alert showing a domain name very close to your trademark, then you could have a cybersquatting situation. Though it could be a coincidence, it could also be nefarious in origin. The person may not want to sell the domain, and if they are using it illegally, you’ll have to deal with it.

If you find yourself in this situation, you can exercise your right to having an arbitration proceeding once you find out the trademark has been use illegally. The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy is the most common proceeding for arbitrating domain name disputes. The process lets disputes be settled out of court. The decisions made in an arbitration over a domain name are legally binding. However, you can challenge them in a traditional courtroom if you believe the result to be unfair.

Another tactic is for you to try to register domain names related to your trademark. These domain names may be derivative names where the trademark is included, or it could be derivative names where only part of your trademark is used. Another company could have found the name using a domain name generator if they were having difficulty coming up with domain names. Get suggestions from domain name generators, or come up with the possibilities on your own, including combinations ending in different extensions, like .org, or .tk.

With some advance planning and a watchful eye, you shouldn’t have to put up with a cybersquatter. You’ve invested a lot of money building your brand, and you shouldn’t have to accept someone trying to extort money from you. Keep an eye on how your trademark is being used. If it is being misused, then arbitration may be a way to deal with the problem. Meantime, going ahead and buying the domain names that are similar to yours or are common variations on your domain name is a smart move.

Learn about domain name flipping