Plaintiff Alleges McAfee 'Cybersquatted' on Domain Name for 15 Years
McAfee “cybersquatted” on the cyberguard.com internet domain for 15 years with no “bona fide” ties to plaintiff James Linlor’s trademarked term Cyberguard, alleged a Thursday trademark complaint (docket 5:23-cv-00385) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Jose.
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Linlor is “actively trying to grow his cybersecurity business, and is blocked from use of his undisputed trademark” by McAfee’s “squatting on the identically-named internet domain,” said the complaint. The defendant has “passively cybersquatted by not placing any content on the website cyberguard.com for 15 years” and hasn't used the term in business, the complaint said.
Cyberguard’s potential customers are forced to remember and type the lengthier website owned by Linlor, cyberguard-solutions.com, “while Defendant draws traffic to the blank website, cyberguard.com,” said the complaint. Asserting bad faith infringement, plaintiff called McAfee’s use of the trademarked term a “clear violation of fair use and enjoyment” under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
McAfee’s drawing traffic to a blank website is also “dilutive and confusing,” said the complaint. Search engines list cyberguard.com higher in their results than cyberguard-solutions.com, but “they are not equivalent or reasonable substitutes,” plaintiff said.
The defendant didn't respond to Linlor's claims as part of an effort to avoid arbitration through alternative dispute resolution, said the complaint.
Linlor seeks an ex parte order co-filed for an injunction to bar transfer or changes to the website’s defendant-controlled hosting at cyberguard.com or ownership/registration “to maintain the status quo and neither exacerbate damages nor harm upon Plaintiff and his intellectual property,” pending disposition of the case, said the complaint. He seeks a declaration that McAfee’s registration and use of the cyberguard.com domain name is “unlawful” under the ACPA.
Plaintiff requested that if McAfee doesn’t respond, that an order be made to CSC Corporate Domains to transfer registration of cyberguard.com to him. He’s seeking an award of $100,000 under the Lanham Act, plus attorneys’ fees and legal costs.