Domain Name Litigation

Domain names have what is known as a hierarchal level. The top and best known level of the hierarchy is .COM. Originally, .COM signified a commercial enterprise; .ORG attached to a domain name signified a non-profit organization; .EDU signified an educational institution, .GOV is reserved for governmental entities and .NET indicated network and Internet related organizations. As people and organizations registered domain names, they didn't always stick to these designations when registering .NET and .COM domain names. In addition to these domain name extensions, new extensions such as .INFO, .NAME, .BIZ and unique country level domains (such as .US for the United States and .UK for the United Kingdom) have been added.

Expect More Domain Name Extensions

Expect additional generic top level domain name extensions to be added in future years.

Secondary Level Domain Names

A secondary level of the domain name is the words and symbols that appear to the left of the top level extension. Each domain name must be unique; therefore, a secondary level domain name can exist with various top level extensions, but no secondary level domain name can exist with the same top level extension. Even though there may be two companies with the same name, only one will get to use the company name along with the top level extension .COM. For example, there are two companies in New York State; both offer preparation instruction to students for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). One company is named Test Masters, the other is named Testmasters. Which one gets to use http://www.testmasters.com? Unfortunately, for both New York companies, a company in Texas registered this domain name first. In the above example, all three companies could legally have registered the domain name: testmasters.com. This became a case of who got there first or the price each was willing to pay to someone else who legally first registered the domain name.

Domain Name Disputes

Disputes frequently arise when several entities with the same or similar name compete for the most common top level extension (.COM) along with a secondary name which represents their company or a product made by their company. In cases where each competing entity feels that they have the legal right to the domain name due to intellectual property rights, most frequently their dispute is first arbitrated with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers).

As of 1999, ICANN implemented UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy)and has required all accredited registrars to implement UDRP.

Depending on the results of an arbitration (UDRP is actually an administrative procedure rather than true arbitration), one or more competing entities are going to be unhappy. You can read more about UDRP here. Litigation usually ensues. Click here for a rundown of some well known domain name disputes.

Domain Name Lawyers are equipped and ready to help entities involved in domain name disputes. We know the law involved with registration of domain names, the rules required for disputing a domain name registration and the proper procedures.