by Tom Galvani, Domain Name Law attorney
I prefer to provide legal services on a fixed fee basis. I will prepare and send a cease & desist letter to registrants (owners) of domain names that infringe on a single federally registered trademark or service mark for a legal fixed fee of $499 for each registrant, payable in advance.
Trademark owners can send a cease & desist letter to infringing domain name owners on the mark owner’s letterhead. See Sample Domain Name Cease & Desist Letter. However, I believe that a cease & desist letter from a lawyer has a much greater chance for a successful outcome than a letter from a mark owner. It is very common for owners of infringing domain names who have limited financial resources to comply fully with a lawyer’s cease & desist demand letter alleging violations of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. See the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act FAQ. These domain name owners realize that defending a lawsuit or an arbitration proceeding could be very costly.
Another reason for a mark owner to hire me to prepare and send a domain name cease & desist letter is that my letter includes a formal Settlement Agreement for the parties to sign that includes provisions governing: (i) the transfer of the domain names, (ii) a covenant of the infringer to sign and deliver an Assignment of Domain Name (in the form of an exhibit attached to the Settlement Agreement) to the mark owner, (iii) a covenant to cease & desist from further infringement, and (iv) a release of the infringer from the mark owner’s claims arising from use of the infringing domain name after the infringing domain name has been transferred. A prudent infringer will want a release of claims as part of an agreement to transfer a domain name.
I send cease & desist letters for a fixed fee of $499 per registrant. If the registrant has five infringing domain names, the fee is $499, but if there are three domain names owned by three different registrants, the fee for three letters is $1,497.
If you would like to hire me to prepare and send one or more domain name cease & desist letters, call me, trademark and domain name law attorney Thomas W. Galvani, at 602-281-6481 or send me an email message to tom@keytlaw.com and I will send you a proposed legal engagement agreement.