Microsoft Sues Domain Name Registrar For Cybersquatting

Seattle, WA (AHN) - Microsoft has sued domain name registrar Red Register for illegally profiting from off of its trademarks. Microsoft alleges that Red Register snatched up 125 domain names "confusingly similar" to trademarked products and software.

Web surfers may be tricked into clicking on ads on these sites "because the person finds it easier to click on the advertisement or hyperlink than to continue searching for the Microsoft site, or because the person mistakenly believes Microsoft has authorized or endorsed the advertisements," the suit claims.

Red Register owns domains such as windowslivecare.com, msnmesnger.com and ageofmathology.com.

Although the domains are now registered to a Virgin Islands company named Versata Software, they were previously registered to Red Register and, the filings state, adding the current registration information to be false

The suit involves typosquatting, the practice of registering domain names that contain misspellings of trademark terms, and cybersquatting, the registration of a variant of a trademark, IDG News Service reported.