Chris Bosh, NBA star of the Toronto Raptors, wins his Federal case to acquire ChrisBosh.com. According to the New York Times, a California judge has order Luis Zavala to turn over the domain name to Chris Bosh along with 800 other domains corresponding to the names of other athletes, celebrities, and entertainers.

Mr. Bosh has offered to transfer any of these other 800 domains for free to their rightful owners. The defendent, Luis Zavala, has been ordered to pay $120,000 in damages, but authorities have been unable to locate him thus far.

PremiumDomains.biz have written before about the inherent trademark and brand value contained in a celebrity’s name. This value has been created through years of hard work and accomplishment.

Cybersquatters aim to profit off of the brand value created by the celebrity’s fame and success. This is contemptible behavior, but fortunately seems to be decreasing in the world of domaining. Domain investors are learning what constitutes “cybersquatting”, and that cybersquatting is illegal as well as wrong on principle alone.

For more on this topic, see …

• When A Celebrity Wants Their Domain Name
• Cybersquatting is Not Domaining
• Reverse Domain Name Hijacking

Cybersquatting trademark