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Microsoft Files New Cybersquatting Charges

Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service

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Graphic: Chip Taylor
Microsoft has charged a Florida company with cybersquatting in a new lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Microsoft lists 23 Web addresses in the suit that it says are registered to Domain Investments and contain Microsoft trademarks or intentional misspellings of such names. The addresses include windoesmobile.com, wwwhotmajl.com, microsoft-games.com and zunedrivers.com. Many of the sites include advertising for various products and services. The suit is one of several so-called typosquatting or cybersquatting suits by Microsoft.

"Defendants' registration and use of the infringing domain names is to primarily capitalize on the goodwill associated with Microsoft Marks," reads the lawsuit, which also charges 23 unnamed defendants.

For the cybersquatting charges, Microsoft asks to be awarded the defendants' profits from the sites plus damages to be determined at trial, or up to US$100,000 per domain name. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, also includes charges of trademark infringement and false advertising.

Microsoft is also asking for an injunction against Domain Investments from infringing on Microsoft's trademarks and from registering any additional URLs that contain Microsoft trademarks or misspellings of them.

An e-mail sent to an address listed on the Domain Investments Web site bounced back, and a phone message asking for comment was not immediately returned. Domain Investments' Web site describes the company as a domain development and monetization business.

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