Pinterest Wins $7.2M and Injunction Against Cybersquatter

Pinterest today won a judgment in U.S. District Court against Qian Jin, a Chinese cybersquatter, so it can take control of 100 domains he had bought, including pinterests.com, pimterest.com and pinterost.com.

Today, if you go to those domains you’ll find cheesy online casino ads and lists of related links. Soon, they’ll redirect to Pinterest itself — which is probably where people who type them intend to go.

A San Francisco judge awarded Pinterest $7.2 million in damages and legal fees, in response to a trademark and cyberpiracy complaint filed by the company just over a year ago.

That was less than the $12 million in damages Pinterest had sought, which was the maximum allowable.

The judge found the infringement to be “willful and serial,” noting, “There is no indication of good faith mistake or excusable neglect justifying defendant’s failure to respond or otherwise defend against plaintiff’s allegations.”

Said a Pinterest spokesperson, “This is a good outcome for the people who use Pinterest. We’ll continue to work to protect pinners and our trademarks.” Of course, since the defendant didn’t even respond to the complaint, it’s not exactly clear whether he will pay up.

In other Pinterest trademark news, the mobile appmaker Path has said it intends to challenge Pinterest’s attempt to trademark the stylized “P” it uses as its logo, which is quite similar to the one Path uses.

Facebook won a similar cybersquatting suit earlier this year versus multiple defendants, winning more than 100 domains and damages of about $2.8 million.

Here’s the Pinterest judgment:

2013 09 30 [20] Order Granting Default Judgment Against Defendant in Re …