Internet Trademarks Recovered From Cybersquatters
Holland & Knight successfully recovered multiple Internet trademarks registered by cybersquatters for Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma (CCM), a major Mexican brewery and a subsidiary of FEMSA. As the largest beverage company in Mexico and Latin America, CCM produces many fine beers known around the world, including Dos Equis, Tecate, Sol, Bohemia, and Carta Blanca. Holland & Knight has represented CCM on international trademark matters for years, and was asked by CCM to help recover www.dosequis.com, www.dosequisbeer.com, www.tecate.com, www.tecatebeer.com, and www.solbeer.com. All of the domain names had been registered and parked at Web sites offering links to various beer and other alcohol-related sites. Some of the cybersquatters complied quickly; others required Holland & Knight to institute UDRP proceedings with WIPO to recover the domain names before transferring the registration to the company. The last two domain names involved cybersquatters that used "privacy shields," which presented different challenges. Ordinarily, a domain name registrant must provide contact information and the provision of false contact information is evidence of bad faith. However, domain name registrars have begun offering services that allow registrants to hide their identity. In exchange for a fee, the registrar identifies the privacy shield as the registrant, making it more difficult to obtain information about the cybersquatter. After filing the UDRP complaints, the domain name registrar provided Holland & Knight with the registrants' actual identities. The team argued that the mere use of a privacy shield, taken together with the fame of the marks and other evidence, should be deemed bad faith. The arbitrators agreed with the Holland & Knight team, and the domain names were successfully recovered.
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