Uni

for
m Domain-
NameDi
sput
eResolut
ionPolicy
:Isi
tef
ficaci
ousmechani
sm t
o
tackl
ewi
tht
heTrademarkissueandCyber
squatti
ng?
(
-
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
-Rohi
tRaj

Withthecont i
nuanceoftheCOVI D-19Pandemi ctheworkwer eshift
edt ot heel ectr
onicmedi aand
peopleweredependentont helat
estt echnologyt
hatmakespeopletocar ryforwardt hei
rwor ksbuton
theotheraspectsshi
ft
ingtothedigit
almedi amakesomear eavul
nerabl
et othreatorexpl oi
tat
ion.Cyber
rel
atedissuesar ealwaysconsideredt o beamaj ori
ssueinthisinterneter aandsomewher et he
i
nternati
onalandnati
onall
awsisnotbei ngcapabletoaddr
essandresolveallt
hei ssues.

Oneissuewher et hei
nternat
ionalandnat i
onall
awsbecomenotsoeffect
ivei
ndeali
ngisofTrademark
i
ssueandCy bersquatti
ngi ncorrespondencewiththedomainname.Domainnamesper f
ormsr ol
ein
i
denti
fyi
ngtheI Paddr esses,Identi
fi
cati
onoft r
ademarkhol
derandtr
ademarkofacompany .Eventhe
rol
eisPri
mei nthei nter
neterabutt her
eisnosuf f
ici
entl
awenact
edorunif
ormit
ytoprot
ectthedomain
namesfrom anyf orm ofexpl
oitat
ion.

Intheabsenceofdi f
fer
entef
fect
ivelaws,
Inter
netCorporat
ionforAssi
gnedNamesandNumber s(I
CANN)
aft
erlotofdiscussi
onanddeli
berati
onimplementedtheUnifor
m DomainNameDisputeResol
uti
onPoli
cy
(UDRP)on24thOct ober
,1999wit
hanai mt otackl
etheissueoftrademarkandCy
bersquat
ti
nginrel
ati
on
toDomai nname.

Uni
for
m Domai
nNameDi
sput
eResol
uti
onPol
icy
:AWayt
oDef
endRi
ght
s

Uniform Domai nNameDi sput

eResol uti
onPol i
cyenactedandenf or cedinthey ear1999t or esolvethe
disput ebetweent heonewhor egist
erforthatdomainandt hirdpartywhowi ththemal ici
ousi ntentused
ther egister
edi nternetdomain.Cer t
aintopl ev
eldomai nlike,(1)gTLD ( 2)ccTLD camef orwardand
voluntaril
yadopt edt henormsofUDRPPol i
cyanddecl ar
edt hatanydomai nregist
eredundert heset op
l
ev eldomai nswi llbeboundbyt hetermsandcondi t
ionspeci f
iedint heUnifor
m Domai nNameDi spute
Resol uti
onPolicy( UDRP)tohandl et
heissueofill
egalandunaut hor
izeduseofr egister
edi nt
ernetdomai n.

Par
agraph4(a)oft heUDRPPoli
cy,stat
esthatUDRPadmi ni
str
ati
vepr
ocedur
ei ssolelyavai
labl
ef or
di
sput
esconcer ni
nganal l
egedabusi
veregi
str
ati
onofadomai nnameandalsot hepar agr
aph4( a)
menti
onthecr i
ter
iawhichneedtobef ul
fi
ll
edbyt hedomainnameandallthoser equi
redcrit
eri
ai s
menti
onedbelow:

 Regi
ster
eddomai
nnamei
sident
ical
tot
heal
readyr
egi
ster
edt
rademar
korser
vicemar
k.

 Thel
att
erdomai
nnamei
sbei
ngr
egi
ster
edandusedwi
tht
hemal
afi
dei
ntentand,

 Regist
rantoft
hedomai
nnamehasnol
awf
uli
nter
est
sincor
respondenceoft
hedomai
nnamei
n
questi
on.

UDRP focusonr esol

vi
ngdi sputesonauni form basisregardlessofconsideri
ngt hej uri
sdicti
onof
complai
nantandthedomai nlocationandemer gedasamechani sm t
oresol
v ethedi sput esrelat
edt o
Cyber
squatt
ingofdomainnamesongl oballev
elwi t
houtbeingli
mi t
edtoanyparti
cularsetofj uri
sdicti
on.
Peopl
eusuallypr
oceedtothecour tforget
ti
ngr eli
efandprotect
ingthei
rri
ght
si nthesei ssuesbutduet o


Rohi
tRaj
,2ndYearB.
A.LLB.
,Ll
oydLawCol
l
ege

Published in Article section of www.manupatra.com

thecour
tformal
i
tyanddi
ff
erenti
ntr
icat
epr
ocedur
espeopl
egener
all
ydon’
tgetr
eli
efandnotabl
eto
defendt
hei
rri
ght
s.

Int
ernetCorpor
ati
onforAssignedNamesandNumber s(I
CANN)addressedthi
sissueofdelayingett
ing
rel
iefandcameupwi ththeideaofUDRPwhi
chpr ov
idesqui
ckandcheaperwayofr esol
vi
ngdisputesof
domai nnameconfli
ctthroughthehel
pofdi
ff
erentexper
tsofdomainissues,i
nter
netlaw andofother
aspects.

Themostcrucialandf av
orablefeat
ureofUDRPi sthatitdoesnotrest
ri
ctanypart
yofthedisputet ofi
le
sui
tinthecompet entcourtnomat t
erifanypart
yofthedi sput
eusestheUnif
orm DomainNameDi spute
Resol
uti
onPolicyasamechani sm f
orresolvi
ngthedisput
e.Personcanoptforbotht
hemet hodinor der
togetr
eli
effr
om theexpl oi
tat
ionoftheiri
nter
netdomainnamebyanyt hir
dpartywhoisnotauthor
ized.

Cy
ber
squat
ti
ng:AbuseofDomai
nNames&Rel
ati
onbet
weenDomai
nNamesandTr
ademar
k

Cybersquatting,aform ofabusingofdomai nnamesbyr egist

eringdomai nnamesthatisidenti
calt
othe
regi
steredtrademar kandexpl oit
ingthetrademarkownerbyaski ngtof ulf
il
ldemandinreturnofgivi
ng
backthedomai nname.Thepr ocessofCy bersquatti
ngbeginswi t
htheregister
ingofthedomai nnames
basedont henameofr egi
steredbusinessandaf terthatsell
i
ngorusi ngf oranyotherpurposewitha
malafideintenti
ontoexpl oi
ttherealownerandgai ningprof
itoftheotherpartybyusi
ngtheirnameinthe
newlyr egi
stereddomainnames.

Av eryser i
ousi ssueemer gi
ngdaybydaybutduet olackofknowledgeaboutt hiswayofabusingi.e.
Cybersquat t
ing,al otofpeopl efacesexploit
ationandt ogetbackt hedomai nnamest heyful
fil
lthe
demandoft heCy bersquatt
erwi t
houtevenent angl
ingwiththeint
ricateprocedureofcourtandother
l
awf ulprocedures.Toaddr essthev er
ysameof fenceofCyber
squatt
ingandexpl oi
tati
onofther
egist
ered
namehol derthet wov eryeffecti
vemechanismshasbeenadopt edie.(
. 1)Anti
cybersquat
ti
ngConsumer
Protecti
onAct( ACPA)( 2)I
nternetCorpor
ationofAssignedNamesandNumber s(ICANN).

Domainnamesandt r
ademarkar everymuchconsideredassimil
arandthei
rrol
ei nthemarket
placeis
al
mostsamebutt heonlydif
ferencethatdemarcat
esboththeconceptisofpresenceontheplatform
meansDomai nnameswor ksont heonlinepl
atfor
m whereastrademar
kmost l
ywor ksonphysicalor
off
li
neplat
form.I
nt heer
aoft echnol
ogyandinthispandemicti
medomainnamesper formsamajorr ol
e
ofonli
netrademarkandt hi
si sbecausedomainnamest hr
oughi t
suni
quenesshighli
ght
sthequal it
y,
goodwil
landthecompany.

Domai nnamest hr
oughitsuniquenessincharacterhel
pt heconsumertoident
if
ythepr
oductsoft heir
choices.Itper
f ormswhol e oft he f
uncti
on thata tr
ademar kperf
ormsi nthephysi
calmar keti.e.
promot i
onoftheexi sti
ngbusinessbyhel pi
ngt heconsumer si
nidenti
fyi
ngthesour
ceoftheirbuy i
ng
productandestabli
shingthei
rcredibi
l
ityi
ntheonlinemarket.

‘
Firstcome,fi
rstser
v ed’t hi
spr i
nci
pleent er
tai
nedinthemarketofdomainnamesleadstoincr
easement
i
nt hedisput
ebetweent hepar ti
esast hir
dparti
esstart
edr
esell
ingthedomainnamesaf t
err
egister
ingto
thetrademarkowneri tselfandchar geshugesum ofamountf rom thet
rademarkownerfortr
ansferr
ing
thedomai nnamesandt hisissuei
ncr easedatagoodpaceast her
ehasbeenincreaseint
her ateofe-
commer ceandshift
ingofmostoft hewor ktotheonli
nemode.

CasesResol
vedt
hroughUDRP&Cour
tsBasedonDomai
nNameDi
sput
e

WI PO inthewakeofi ncreasingdisput
esofdomainnamesaddr essedsev
eralconf
li
ctsandr esol
ved
many di ff
erentdisput
es through UDRP and setthem as pr ecedent
sf orupcoming disputes in
correspondencetotheconfl
ictofdomainnameandTrademark.Someoft hemajordomainnameconf l
ict
resolved t
hrough UDRP and t hefir
stcaseofthemaj ordomai n namedisputeisofPhi l
ip Morris

Published in Article section of www.manupatra.com

 1
I
ncorpor
atedv .r9.
net ,wheretheWI POpanelfoundt hear gumentst
hatweresubmitt
edbycomplainant
val
i
dandt ransferr
edt hedomai nname<Mar lbor
o.com>t oPhili
psMorr
isandstat
edt hatt
heregi
stered
domainnamei sidenticalt
ot hetr
ademarkofcompl ainantandhav enolawfuli
nter
estinthedomai n
nameofcompl ainantandhav eregi
ster
edwithmalafideintenti
on.
2
I
nt heanothercaseofStarbucksCorporati
onv .Mohanraj ,wher
eitwashel dthatt heregi
str
ati
onof
domainnamebyt herespondenti
sidenticalandconfusinglysimil
artothecomplainant’
sdomainname.
Also,t
herehasnotbeenseenanyl awfulinterestint
hedomai nnameofcompl ainantanddonei nbad
fai
th.Hence,t
hedomainnameshoul dbet r
ansferr
edtot hecompl ai
nant.Samehasbeenobser vedand
3
beenheldi hercaseofGOOGLEI
nanot nc.v.GulshanKhatri .

The Courts addressed and setone oft he earli

estlandmar
kj udgmenti nt he case of Redif
f
4
Communi cat
ionv.Cy ber
boot
h&Anr . ,wheretheBombayhighcour
twasoft heopi
nionthatthevalueand
i
mpor t
anceofadomai nli
kei
sacor porateassetofaCompanyanditismorethanai nt
ernetaddressand
ent
it
ledforprot
ectionequalt
oat r
ademar kandpr ov
idedt
hejudgmentinfav
oroftheplai
ntif
f.

Manymorej udgmenthavebeenpronouncedbyWI PO t
hroughUDRPanddif
fer
entcourt
sandallt
he
j
udgmentpronouncedsetsomeoftheef f
ici
entandremarkabl
erul
esandt
ri
edtoaddressandr
esol
ve
t
hisi
ssueofCy ber
squat
ti
ngofdomainnameupt oalar
geextent
.

Concl
usi
on:

Intheeraofinter
netandtechnologywherethewholeworldisshif
ti
ngandr el
yingont heonli
nemedium
whichnotonlyreduci
ngtheireff
ortandburdenbutalsobecomingmor ecompat i
blewiththegener
ati
on.
Butther at
eofonl i
neexploit
ati
onandCy ber
squat
tingi
ncreasi
ngdaybydayatar apidpaceandt he
conceptofe-commerceaddupt omor ecasesofonl
ineexpl
oitat
ionandCybersquatti
ng.

UDRPanddi f
ferentotherl
awsandpol ici
esar econti
nuouslymakingeffort
stoaddr essandl essenthe
numberofcasesofCy ber
squatti
ngandpr eventpeoplefrom l
osingtheirri
ghtsononl i
neplat f
orm.E-
commerceandshi f
ti
ngofwor ktoonli
nemoder equi
resmor est
ri
ngentlawwhi chcanregulat
et hewhole
onl
inepl
atf
orm andcansuperviseforpr
eventi
ngpeopl ef
rom bei
ngexploit
ed.

1
Phil
i
pMor ri
sIncorporatedv.r9.net
,CaseNo.D2003-0004.
2
Star
bucksCorporationv .Mohanraj
,deci
dedon26.11.2009.
3
GOOGLEI nc.v.GulshanKhat r
i,I
NDRP/189.
4
Redif
fCommuni cationv .Cy
berbooth&Anr.,
AIR2000Bom 27.

Published in Article section of www.manupatra.com