Pennsylvania Law Firm Claims Websites Free-Ride on Its Name

Intellectual Property Law

Pennsylvania Law Firm Claims Websites Free-Ride on Its Name

Posted Sep 26, 2008, 09:35 am CST
By Martha Neil

A Pennsylvania law firm has sued a Canadian domain name registry, claiming that it helped create websites that free-ride on the Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn name.

The Kingston personal injury firm, which is also known by its HKQ acronym, alleges in the federal suit that Domain Discreet registered website names that are deceptively similar to Hourigan's trademark, reports the Times Leader.

The websites, include houriganklugerquinn.com and houriganklugerquinn.net, steer business away from its own firm and to competing law firms that advertise or are hyperlinked there, the lawsuit contends.

"The suit requests a judge enter a preliminary injunction preventing Domain Discreet from continuing to utilize the domain names," the newspaper writes. "It also seeks compensatory damages up to $100,000 per infringing domain name and $1 million for willful uses of each counterfeit trademark."

It was filed Monday in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The newspaper apparently did not contact Domain Discreet for its reaction to the litigation.

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Posted by Michael - 2 months, 2 days, 4 hours, 8 minutes ago

This is not a lawsuit against a registry (which would have been news, but would have been a very difficult case to bring!) but rather a lawsuit against a registrant (which is not all that newsworthy).
Posted by Dan - 1 month, 4 weeks, 16 hours, 1 minute ago

The reporter seems to be unclear on the distinction between a registry, a registrar, and a registrant. I don’t know if the litigant initiating the suit is similarly unclear, having not seen the original filed documents.

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