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[LoveOfIP]

Followed their reporting policy and requested take down of links to trademark infringement. However, it seems most of these sites are asking for a trademark registration, which I believe is not required because I have common law rights for quite some time, and at the national level (not geographically limited to one area of country).

Has anyone else experienced this frustration? Any better ways to pursue this?

[OMG IP]

There's no such thing as federal common law, so whatever rights you think you may have, they are not "national".  Whereas a federal registration provides constructive notice of trademark rights on a national basis, and is evidence as to the validity of those rights.

[LoveOfIP]

So common law rights are of no value for take downs?

[OMG IP]

So common law rights are of no value for take downs?

I wouldn't say "no" value, but certainly the scope of rights is much more limited than rights provided by registration.

If Google's policy is to validate all allegations of infringement before a take down occurs, you probably have more work to do.

[LoveOfIP]

Apparently they are requiring an issued federal registration, so are giving no weight to prior date of first use, even if common law.

[Superchicken]

It's been my experience that companies like Google, Amazon and iTunes validate allegations of infringement before removing infringing content.  However, their validation has limitations.  Having a federal regsitration or even a state registration will carry a lot of weight.  These companies are not in the business of making legal determinations about parties' trademarks when someone is claiming a common law right; that is for courts or administrative bodies like the USPTO or secretaries of state (state registrations) to do.

[Zonath]

Followed their reporting policy and requested take down of links to trademark infringement. However, it seems most of these sites are asking for a trademark registration, which I believe is not required because I have common law rights for quite some time, and at the national level (not geographically limited to one area of country).

Has anyone else experienced this frustration? Any better ways to pursue this?

Well, as a starting point, Google, Yahoo, and other search engines are generally free to develop their own policies on this, so if they require some proof of registration, then that's what's required.  You do have whatever rights in your trademark which use has given, but these websites want to be able to easily-validate your trademark's status, so may not be inclined to dig into the history of your use of the mark, whereas an actual registration gives a pretty bright line.