I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.
Cybersquatting is very serious. Expect to turn over the name at least.
http://www.nolo.com/encyclopedia/articles/ilaw/cybersquatting.html
If you own a trademark and find that someone is holding it hostage as a domain name until you pay a large sum for it, you may be the victim of cybersquatting. You can sue to get your domain name -- and possibly some money damages -- under a 1999 federal law known as the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
Under the Act, cybersquatting means registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad-faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. It refers to the practice of buying up domain names reflecting the names of existing businesses, intending to sell the names for a profit back to the businesses when they go to put up their websites.
What You Can Sue For
Under the Anti-Cybersquatting Act, victorious cybersquatting victims can ask the court for an injunction against the cybersquatter, and for monetary damages.
Injunctive relief is a court order requiring the domain name registrant to transfer the domain name to the plaintiff. Injunctive relief is available whether the cybersquatting occurred before or after the Act took effect.
Recovering Your Good Name
If a cybersquatter has registered your personal name -- or a name that is "substantially or confusingly similar" to it -- you can sue in federal court to have the name transferred back to you. However, you will have to prove that the domain name registration was done with the specific intent of selling it back to you or to a third party for a profit. As a general rule, this will only work for famous people and politicians, since it's unlikely that the name would be registered with an intent to make a profit unless it belonged to someone well known.
If you win your lawsuit against the cybersquatter, you are also entitled to recover three times the total amount of money you lost because of the cybersquatter, plus the profits realized by the cybersquatter from his or her illegal activity, plus your court costs. In exceptional cases, you can also be awarded attorney's fees. However, cybersquatting usually doesn't cause actual monetary losses (though it does cause you massive inconvenience). Nor does it generate profits, unless you paid the squatter. So, at your option, the Court can award you "statutory damages" of $1,000 to $100,000. Since statutory damages do not require proof of any type, they offer you a realistic opportunity to recover money as well as the domain name.
Importantly, money damages (both actual and statutory) may only be recovered for cybersquatting activity that occurred after November 29, 1999. For instance, if the cybersquatting activity complained of is the registration of the name, and the registration occurred before November 29, 1999, you can't recover money damages. However, you can recover for other prohibited activities that occurred after November 29, 1999. For example, even if the domain name was registered before November 29, 1999, you can still recover money damages if the domain name was trafficked in (for instance, offered for sale) or used after November 29, 1999.
