Take Back Your Domain with a Cybersquatting Attorney
Cybersquatting is registering a domain that copies your trademark in bad faith—to ransom it, divert customers, or run scams. From Orlando, Florida, Keough Law recovers infringing domains for clients nationwide through UDRP complaints and federal ACPA lawsuits, and defends legitimate registrants.
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Your brand online—in someone else's hands
A stranger registers your company name the week you launch and offers to sell it for five figures. A lookalike domain sends fake invoices to your customers. A competitor parks your brand plus “reviews” and redirects the traffic. Every day the domain stays live, it costs you customers and trust.
Domain disputes are trademark disputes at their core, which is why they live in our intellectual property practice—and why a federal registration makes them easier to win.
- Someone registered your brand and wants you to buy it.
- A typo domain is phishing your customers.
- A former partner or vendor kept your domain.
- A competitor is redirecting your brand’s traffic.
What wins a domain dispute
UDRP panels and federal courts ask similar questions. Under the UDRP, you must prove each one; under the ACPA, the focus is bad-faith intent to profit from your mark.
You have trademark rights
A registered or common-law mark that identifies your business—the foundation of every domain claim.
The domain is confusingly similar
Identical to your mark, a misspelling, or your brand plus a word like “login,” “shop,” or a city name.
No legitimate interest
The registrant isn’t known by that name, isn’t making a bona fide offering, and isn’t making fair use of it.
Bad faith
Registered to sell back to you, divert your customers, disrupt your business, or run phishing and scams.
Fast transfer—or full damages?
Most domain disputes are resolved through the UDRP: no court, no discovery, and a decision in weeks. But it can only move the domain.
When a cybersquatter has caused real harm, owns many domains, or keeps coming back, a federal ACPA lawsuit adds money damages and a court order with teeth.
Fast and focused
- Decided in about two months
- Lower cost, written submissions
- Transfer or cancellation only
- No damages or attorney’s fees
Full federal remedies
- Transfer ordered by a federal court
- Statutory damages per domain
- Fees in exceptional cases
- In rem action if owner is hidden
Don't pay the ransom
Keough Law builds the trademark and bad-faith record that wins domain disputes—and defends businesses whose legitimate domains are targeted by overreaching complaints. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
“Someone was holding our company name hostage online. Shaun got the domain transferred to us without paying a dime to the squatter.”
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Domain Dispute Matter
$100K
maximum statutory damages per infringing domain under the ACPA
More than the domain back
Domain transfer
The domain moved into your registrar account—through UDRP or court order.
Statutory damages
$1,000 to $100,000 per domain under the ACPA, without proving actual losses.
Injunctive relief
A court order barring future registrations or use of confusingly similar domains.
Attorney’s fees
Available in exceptional cases—often where bad faith is clear.
From squatter to your account
Investigate the domain
We review registration history, WHOIS and privacy data, site content, and any offers to sell to build the bad-faith record.
Quick takedown steps
For phishing or fraud, we send abuse reports to the registrar and host and a cease-and-desist to the registrant.
Choose the forum
A UDRP complaint for fast, low-cost transfer—or an ACPA lawsuit when you need damages, fees, or an injunction.
Transfer & monitor
We secure the transfer to your registrar account and set up monitoring to catch the next copycat early.
Often cheaper than the ransom
A UDRP complaint has a defined scope and timeline, which makes it predictable to budget—often less than a squatter's asking price. ACPA litigation is billed hourly with a clear estimate up front.
We'll recommend the most cost-effective path in your free consultation.
Trademark counsel, nationwide
You work directly with Shaun Keough, who trained in trademark law and handles federal IP matters for clients across the country. Strong trademark registration makes domain disputes easier to win, and we handle related trademark infringement claims in the same matter.
Domain dispute questions
What is cybersquatting?
Cybersquatting is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to someone else’s trademark, in bad faith—usually to sell it back to the brand owner, divert their customers, or run scams. Typosquatting, which relies on common misspellings of a brand, is a common form.
What is the difference between a UDRP complaint and an ACPA lawsuit?
A UDRP complaint is an administrative proceeding under ICANN’s Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy, decided on written submissions, typically within about two months. It can only transfer or cancel the domain. The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (15 U.S.C. §1125(d)) is a federal lawsuit that can also award damages, attorney’s fees in exceptional cases, and injunctive relief.
How much can I recover for cybersquatting?
Under the ACPA, a trademark owner may elect statutory damages of $1,000 to $100,000 per domain name, as the court considers just, instead of proving actual damages. A UDRP proceeding does not award money—its remedy is the transfer or cancellation of the domain.
What if I don’t know who registered the domain?
Many registrants hide behind privacy services or fake details. A UDRP complaint can proceed against the registrant as listed, and the provider will request the underlying details from the registrar. Under the ACPA, if the registrant can’t be found or isn’t subject to personal jurisdiction, you may be able to bring an in rem action against the domain itself where the registrar or registry is located.
Someone filed a UDRP complaint against my domain. What should I do?
Respond on time—the response deadline is short, and a default makes transfer far more likely. Legitimate registrants can win by showing rights or legitimate interests, such as a genuine business using a descriptive or generic term, or that the domain predates the complainant’s trademark. Panels can also find “reverse domain name hijacking” when a complaint is brought in bad faith.
Ready to protect
what you've built?
Schedule a free, confidential consultation. We'll talk through your situation and figure out the right next step together.