1)
What is a domain name?
Ans. Each host computer providing
Internet services ("Web Site") has a unique Internet
address. Users seeking to exchange digital information (electronic
mail ("email"), computer programs, images,text etc ) with
a particular Internet host require the host's address in order to
establish a connection. Hosts actually possess two fungible addresses:
a numeric "IP" address such as 123.456.123.12, and an
alphanumeric "domain name" such as www.lawfirmofkhonas.com with greater
mnemonic potential.
Here “LawFirmOfKhonas” is a domain name. Domain names are
the familiar, easy to remember names for computers on the Internet
(such as LawFirmOfKhonas.com).. Domain names are used generally
as a convenient way of locating information and reaching others
on the Internet.
Q.
2) What does it mean to "register" a domain name?
Ans.
The Internet domain name system (DNS) consists of a directory,
organized hierarchically, of all the domain names and their corresponding
computers registered to particular companies and persons using the
Internet. When you register a domain name, it will be associated
with the computer on the Internet you designate during the period
the registration is in effect.
Q.
3) How can I get a domain name in .com, .net or .org?
Ans.
Domain names ending with .com, .net or .org can be registered
through many different companies (known as "registrars").
ICANN is the new non-profit corporation that is assuming
responsibility from the U.S. Government for coordinating certain
Internet technical functions, including the management of Internet
domain name system. Domain names are registered on a first come
first serve basis.
Q.
4) What is involved in registering a domain name in .com, .net
or .org?
Ans.
To register a domain name, you will be asked to provide the
registrar you select with the various contact and technical information
that makes up the registration. The registrar will then keep records
of the contact information and submit the technical information
to a central directory known as the "registry." This registry
provides other computers on the Internet the information necessary
to send you e-mail or to find your web site. You will also be required
to enter a “Registration Agreement” with the registrar, which sets
forth the terms under which your registration is accepted and will
be maintained. It is upmost important that you are named and
addressed as the “Registrant” when you give all the information
to register your Domain Name. Nobody "owns" a domain
name. There is no way that Registrar can determine whether you are
entitled to register a domain name or not.
But the person who registers it for all practical purpose controls
the usage of the name . eg to register “LawFirmOfKhonas” the
Author being one of the partners should register herself as the
”Registant” .
Q.
5) Will your name and contact information be publicly available?
Ans.
Yes. Information about who is responsible for domain names
is publicly available to allow rapid resolution of technical problems
and to permit enforcement of consumer protection, trademark, and
other laws. The registrar will make this information available to
the public on a "Whois" site.
Q.
6) Someone else has registered your company's name as a .com domain
name. what is the remedy available to you?
Ans.
Domain name mirroring a corporate name
may be a valuable corporate asset, as it facilitates communication
with a customer base.
All
ICANN-accredited registrars follow a “Uniform domain name dispute
resolution policy” . The policy which is in effect at present
interalia provides that the Registrar will cancel, transfer
or otherwise make changes to domain name registrations under the
following circumstances:
a.
On their receipt of written or appropriate electronic instructions
from you or your authorised agent to take such action;
b.
their receipt of an order from a court or arbitral tribunal, in
each case of competent jurisdiction, requiring such action; and/or
c.
their receipt of a decision of an Administrative Panel requiring
such action in any administrative proceeding to which you were a
party and which was conducted under this Policy or a later version
of this Policy adopted by ICANN.
In
disputes arising from registrations allegedly made abusively (such
as "cybersquatting" and cyberpiracy"),[see clause
c above] the uniform policy provides an expedited administrative
procedure to allow the dispute to be resolved without the cost and
delays often encountered in court litigation. In these cases, you
can invoke the administrative procedure by filing a complaint with
one of the dispute-resolution service providers .Currently Three
organisations have been appointed (a) World Intellectual Property
organisation (WIPO) at Geneva (b) National Arbitration Forum in
Minneapolis and (c) Resolution in Montreal as dispute-resolution
service providers.
Q.
7) What is “Cybersqutting”?
Ans.
It is the action of registering domain names sometimes in bulk
without actually using them except to ultimately to sell it to a
real user by making profit over and above reasonable out-of-pocket
expenses.
Q.
8) What do you have to prove before the “dispute-resolution service
providers” for dispute over a domain name registered by some third
party if you are the complainant?
Ans.
In the administrative
proceeding, the complainant(you) must prove that each of following
three elements are present.
(i) disputed domain
name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service
mark in which the complainant(you) has rights; and
(ii) the present
domain name regisrant has no rights or legitimate interests in respect
of the domain name; and
(iii) your domain
name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
Q.
9) What is Evidence of “Registration and Use in Bad Faith”?
Ans. The following
circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by
the “dispute-resolution service provider’s Panel to be present,
shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name in
bad faith:
(i)
circumstances indicating that the third party have registered or
you have acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling,
renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration
to the complainant(you) who is the owner of the trademark or service
mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration
in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related
to the domain name; or
(ii)
third party have registered the domain name in order to prevent
the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark
in a corresponding domain name, provided that third party have
engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
(iii)
third party have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose
of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
(iv)
by using the domain name, third party have intentionally attempted
to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site
or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion
with the complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation,
or endorsement of his web site or location or of a product or service
on his web site or location.
Q.
10) How to Demonstrate Your Rights to and Legitimate Interests
in the Domain Name in Responding to a Complaint?
Ans. When you receive a complaint,any of the following circumstances,
in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to be
proved based on its evaluation of all evidence presented, shall
demonstrate your rights or legitimate interests to the domain name:
(i)
before any notice to you of the dispute, your use of, or demonstrable
preparations to use, the domain name or a name corresponding to
the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods
or services; or
(ii)
you (as an individual, business, or other organisation) have been
commonly known by the domain name, even if you have acquired no
trademark or service mark rights; or
(iii)
you are making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain
name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert
consumers or to tarnish the trademark or service mark at issue.
Q.
11) Can I go to Court for protecting my rights and interests?
Ans.
Yes, Indeed you can go to court of Competent Jurisdiction for
protecting my rights and interests. You can do so even if proceedings
have commenced before the Panel and are pending subject to para
4(k) of the policy.
All other disputes between you and any party other than The
Registrar regarding your domain name registration that are not
brought pursuant to the mandatory administrative proceeding provisions
of the policy shall be resolved between you and such other party
through any court, arbitration or other proceeding that may be available.Q.
12) Is there any decision taken which can highlight some of the
legal implications?
Ans.
Following are the details of the case decided by WIPO in the
month of January 2000
ADMINISTRATIVE
PANEL DECISION
World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (Complainant)
v. Michael Bosman(Respondent)
The domain name at issue is <worldwrestlingfederation.com>,
. Factual Background
The
complainant has provided evidence of the registration of the following
marks:
1. Service Mark – WORLD
WRESTLING FEDERATION, registered for a term of 20 years from January
29, 1985, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office;
2. Trademark - WORLD
WRESTLING FEDERATION, registered for a term of 20 years from November
7, 1989, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
On
October 10, 1999, three days after registering the domain name at
issue, respondent contacted complainant by e-mail and notified complainant
of the registration and stated that his primary purpose in registering
the domain name was to sell, rent or otherwise transfer it to complainant
for a valuable consideration in excess of respondent’s out-of-pocket
expenses. .
Parties’ Contentions (in brief ) were
A. Complainant
Complainant
contended that respondent had registered as a domain name a mark
which is identical to the service mark and trademark registered
and used by complainant, that respondent has no rights or legitimate
interests in respect to the domain name at issue, and that respondent
has registered and is using the domain name at issue in bad faith.
Because respondent offered to sell the domain name to complainant
"for valuable consideration in excess of" any out-of-pocket
costs directly related to the domain name, respondent has "used"
the domain name in bad faith as defined in the Policy.
B.
Respondent
Respondent
had not contested the allegations of the Complaint.
Decision
the
Panel decided that “the domain name registered by respondent is
identical or confusingly similar to the trademark and service mark
in which the complainant has rights, and that the respondent has
no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name,
and that the respondent’s domain name has been registered and is
being used in bad faith”. Accordingly, pursuant to Paragraph 4,i
of the Policy, the Panel requires that the registration of the domain
name <worldwrestlingfederation.com> be transferred to the
complainant.
