Also called Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act · Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act
ACPA, explained
The ACPA, at 15 U.S.C. 1125(d), lists factors courts weigh for bad faith, including an offer to sell the name to the mark owner without having used it for a genuine business. A court can order the domain transferred or cancelled, and the owner may choose statutory damages of between one thousand and one hundred thousand dollars per domain name instead of actual damages. If the registrant cannot be found or sued in the US, the owner can bring an in rem case against the domain where the registry or registrar is located, which for .com includes Virginia, home of Verisign.
For an investor, a trademark-matching name is a liability, not an asset. Unlike the UDRP, which can only transfer or cancel a name, an ACPA case can add damages and, in exceptional cases, attorney fees. It also works in the other direction: a registrant who loses a UDRP can sue within the UDRP's ten-business-day window to stop the transfer. Bad faith is excluded where the registrant reasonably believed the use was fair or otherwise lawful. Consult a qualified attorney before acting on a demand letter.
Example. Registering a famous brand's name plus the word 'outlet' and emailing the brand an asking price matches several of the ACPA's bad-faith factors.
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Education, not financial, legal or tax advice. Domain investing is speculative and most domain names never sell. Read the disclaimer.