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Prince's Estate Files NJ Lawsuit over prince.com

By Charles Toutant

A dealer in Internet domain names is accused in a cybersquatting suit of an illegal attempt to seize on the posthumous popularity of Prince. The lawsuit was filed in Newark federal court by Comerica Bank and Trust N.A., as personal representative of the estate of Prince and Paisley Park Enterprises, a company that was owned by Prince and is now owned by his estate. Paisley Park Enterprises Inc. v. Domain Capital LLC, 2:2018cv2044.

The defendant, which is based in Englewood, NJ, has the rights to www.prince.com. The suit claims that the company's ownership of the domain violates §43(d) of the Lanham Act because it represents a bad-faith intent to profit from association with the artist, who died at age 57 in 2016. The complaint seeks to have ownership of the domain shifted to the plaintiffs, and to recover statutory damages, or actual damages and profits, under 15 U.S.C. 1117, as well as a permanent injunction against violation of the Lanham Act by Domain Capital.

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