I operate a mainstream ecommerce site. Someone register a typo of my domain name. Is there anything I can do to stop him, and retrieve the domain from him? My domain name is not incorporated nor is it a registered copyright or trademark.
Contact the registrar and see what they have to say, whatever course of action you take it ends with them
If you use a unique name (not a generic term) in trade, you probably have a common law trademark on that term (in the United States at least). You might want to see a trademark attorney in your state---preferably an attorney that also works with domain names. Here is a good list of computer savvy attorneys.
You could always check the whois of the domain and send them a legal threat. Unless they're cyber squatting their isn't much you can legally do.
http://www.dnlist.com/Domain_Names/Legal_Resources/Lawyers/ john berryhill ari goldberger paul keating steve sturgeon stevan lieberman those are top ones imo and have a lot of experience with domain disputes, specifically UDRP which is probably your best bet for getting the domain
Google successfully acquired typo versions of their mark. So have others. It boils down to: a) demonstrating trademark rights to the term, and b) being able to show the domain name is infringing it.
Without trademark on it I don't think there's very much to do. You could whois him/her and send an email requesting to actually buy the domain from him/her. Attorneys will be expensive to hire, so maybe it's more affordable to just buy the domain from the owner.
I think the post I have quoted above is spot on. IF the domain is a unique term, you may have a trademark based on you having been the first to use that term (domainwise). In the case of generic terms, your best course of action might be to look into buying the domain from its current owner. Pursuing this as a legal issue in such a case (in a muscle sort of manner), would probably turn out to be a huge waste of time, money and other resources. The legal precedent for infringement lawsuits on generic terms tends not to favor the complainant. .
Ofcourse you can do something about it - threaten them with legal action and tell them they can keep the domain if they become an affiliate for you using that domain. So they end up sending you customers and you are both happy bunnies. However if you got deep pockets thengo and ask your solicitor.