Domain Name
Domain Name
Tags: brand, domain, domain hijacking, domain name, domain name right, domein, domeinkapen, domeinnaam, merk, merkenrecht.
A domain name is a – in many cases easy to remember – name that refers to an underlying numeric IP address. This IP address is an address of a ten-digit computer connected to the Internet. Moreover, the IP address is comparable to a telephone number. In many cases, when creating a domain name, an existing brand name, trade name or personal name is used, so that the website is easy to find. If you use your own brand or trade name for this, this will not cause any problems. However, if you use someone else’s brand or trade name (to generate more traffic on your website, for example), this can be an infringement.
Clash with Trademark Law
Within the Domain Naming System (DNS) it is technically not possible to give different web pages the same domain name. This is also logical because otherwise, the server would never know which of the web pages to forward the user to. So problems can arise when you have a trademark right and want to start a website, but the intended domain name is already in use.
This problem becomes even more apparent in the “domain hijacking”. This “domain hijacking” is the large-scale registration of domain names that (almost) correspond to the trademark of another person, in order to be able to resell these to the trademark owner at a profit.
Trademark right, however, gives the owner of a trademark the exclusive right to use the trademark in economic transactions. Selling a domain name containing the brand name falls under this use and can often be prohibited by the brand owner. In this way, the trademark owner can claim the “hijacked” domain name.
Do you want to know more about domain names and brands or does someone use a domain name with your brand name? Call or email with LAWFOX domain name and trademark lawyer Wouter Dammers.