Cameroon is a west-central African country that has been blessed or cursed, depending on your view, with the country code CM, which is used as its domain extension .CM.
The .CM domain extension is confusingly similar to the world’s most popular extension .COM, and this confusion has made .CM a prime target for squatting activities.
Whilst undertaking our online enforcement activities we have noticed that .CM squatting is on the rise. This increase is fueled by Cameroon’s absence of a domain dispute resolution procedure and an effective trade mark enforcement program through the local courts.
Squatters are aware of these shortcomings and know that most domain disputes will end with them receiving remuneration for their trade mark infringing activities.
We have come across a few well-known trade marks that have fallen into the .CM squatters trap:
Official Domain | .CM Squatter |
---|---|
Dennys.com | Dennys.cm |
Tabao.com | Tabao.cm |
Esteelauder.com | Esteelauder.cm |
Hersheys.com | Hersheys.cm |
Primelocation.com | Primelocation.cm |
Trademarkia.com | Trademarkia.cm |
Trademark law firms are not immune from the .CM threat as is apparent by the online trade mark law firm trademarkia.com who seemingly has been targeted by trademarkia.cm.
Therefore, even though you may not conduct business in Cameroon, the .CM domain extension should be included in any defensive domain strategy program. There is no need to register everything under the sun, but make sure that at least the .CM that matches your main .Com website is registered. The cost of managing a .CM domain is far lower than trying to recover it, and although we have recovered a fair number of .CM domains, it is always advisable to be proactive in this space.
If you would like to register a .CM domain, please email your account manager or [email protected]
Trademark law firms are not immune from the .CM threat as is apparent by the online trade mark law firm trademarkia.com who seemingly has been targeted by trademarkia.cm.
Therefore, even though you may not conduct business in Cameroon, the .CM domain extension should be included in any defensive domain strategy program. There is no need to register everything under the sun, but make sure that at least the .CM that matches your main .Com website is registered. The cost of managing a .CM domain is far lower than trying to recover it, and although we have recovered a fair number of .CM domains, it is always advisable to be proactive in this space.
If you would like to register a .CM domain, please email your account manager or [email protected]