anticybersquatting consumer protection act
Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. Trademarks. A 1999 federal law authorizing a trademark owner to obtain a federal-court order transferring ownership of a domain name from a cybersquatter to the trademark owner. • A mark’s owner must show that (1) the mark and the domain name are identical or confusingly similar; (2) the mark was distinctive when the domain name was first registered; (3) the trademark’s owner used the mark commercially before the domain name was registered; and (4) the domain registrant acted in bad faith and intended to profit from the trademark’s use. Registering a domain name with the intent to sell it to the trademark owner is presumptively an act of bad faith. But if a defendant can prove a legitimate reason for the domain-name registration, the defendant may be allowed to keep the name. — Abbr. ACPA. — Also termed Trademark Cy-berpiracy Prevention Act. [Cases: Trade Regulation 628. C.J.S. Trade-Marks, Trade-Names, and Unfair Competition § 298.]
