discuss Here is a case of 'Trademark Infringement' that cost $1.2 mn to the accused

[Arpit131]

A cybersquatter has been ordered to pay $1.2 million in damages for deliberately using a confusingly similar domain name to steal a competitor’s business.

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted insurance company Neutron Depot’s motion for default judgement on 21 January, after the accused defendant failed to respond to the charges levelled at it.
Neutron accused Insurance Depot Marketing of trademark infringement and violating the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act in April 2015.

Insurance Depot Marketing had launched its own website and a competing insurance service through InsuranceDepotAmerica.com, despite Neutron owning a trademark to ‘Insurance Depot’.

Insurance Depot Marketing intended to “drive internet traffic to one or more websites owned by the fellow defendant for profit and commercial gain”, according to court documents.

Source


Beware of trademark infringement!

Have you ever come across or have been involved in any such case ever where the accused was asked to pay a huge sum of money?? Share if you may...

 

[brindle123]

I'm just guessing here but suing a company vs the average Joe is probably what got them the $1.2million

Plus they built a site/business based on a Trademark. If you profit from the Trademark infringement, then you are liable for any business lost to the TM holder.

Insurance Depot Marketing had launched its own website and a competing insurance service through InsuranceDepotAmerica.com, despite Neutron owning a trademark to ‘Insurance Depot’.

Beware of trademark infringement!

That is great advice that a lot of new people don't follow when they should.

 

[Michael R.]

That's a huge amount of money.

By registering brandable names, the average Joe, that is also a domainer during the weekend, and that is parking his names, can also be ordered to pay a big amount of money?

 

[brindle123]

I'm sure that the court could order avg joe to pay up, but avg joe and said company would just turn over domain with a CD order first before it got to court.

The reason they went to court was because the TM owners business was hurt by the other company profiting from the TM infringement. The TM owner knows that avg joe doesn't have $2.1 million, but the company that infringed on it's TM rights might have $2.1million or more.

Average Joe drives an old pickup truck that was built in the last millennium(1999)