Cybersquatting and Passing Off Domain Names

There is a difference between cybersquatting and passing off domain names. Cybersquatting: a company registers a domain name without the intention to use it. The only reason for registering the domain name is to prevent others from registering a name. If you are thus registering name.co.za and also want name.com you may find that name.com is already registered, but no site is operating. The domain is offered as for sale forcing companies to purchase domains at high prices to have for instance their company name appear in the domain name. Passing Off: a website pretends to be your company or trying to deceive users in thinking that your site and their site are from the same owner. They thus build on your good reputation like parasites. In common law countries such as England, Australia and New Zealand, passing off is a common law tort which can be used to enforce unregistered trade mark rights. The tort of passing off protects the goodwill of a trader from a misrepresentation.