TRADE MARK ISSEUS

IN INTERENT
 The issue of trademark infringement ever arising; this is no
longer the case with the use of trademarks in cyberspace. For
example, a toy brand “super toys” is registered in India and
another toy company by the same name is registered in the
united states of America (U.S.A.).
 Until they are operating separately in their own geographical
locations, the question of trademark infringement does not arise.
However, taking this assumption further, both the brands decided
to take their business online.
 The Indian brand opted for www.Supertoys.Com the US
company zeroed in on www.Super-toys.Com as their domain
names.
 Now, since both the domain names are accessible in India and
U.S.A., There is all likelihood of confusion among prospective
online customers regarding the identity of the brand.

TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT
 Internet is, essentially, a network of networks of computer
systems across the globe, where each computer system has a
separate and unique numeric address (called the Internet
Protocol or IP Address). This IP Address is represented by a
string of digits separated by periods. A domain name has a
length limit of 255 characters with up to 63 characters for each
string.
 Forinstance - 209.85.231.104 is the IP Address of
google.com
 Here, ‘209’ is the network, ‘85’ and ‘231’ are sub-
networks, and ‘104’ is the computer itself.
 The domain name will generally commence with the letters
“www” which indicates that the domain name is part of the
Web.

DOMAIN NAME
Domain name: www.microsoft.com
Sub-Domain: microsoft
gTLD: .com
A domain name is divided into Top Level Domain
(TLD) and Second Level Domain (SLD).
 The TLD is further divided into Generic (gTLD) and
Geographic (also called country code represented
as CcTLD). The nature of generic domain name is
international, for example – .edu for educational
institutions, .com for commercial use etc.

Illustration:
 In 1999, the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non profit,
private sector corporation based in Marina del Rey,
California, USA, assumed management of the DNS
from NSI. (Network solution Inc)
 The main functions of ICANN are:
 (a) setting the rules for giving the numbered IP
addresses / protocol parameters;
 (b) adding new suffixes to the directory; and
 (c) setting rules for arbitrating disputes over
domain ownership.

DOMAIN NAMES REGISTRATION

 Comp. Examiner Agency, Inc. v. Juris, Inc.,
 Differences Between Domain Name and Trademarks
The critics argue that a domain name is simply an address,
and should not be subject to cancellation for likelihood of
confusion with a registered trademark “any more than a
street address or an office building name should be
changed if it is too similar to someone else’s trademark.
However, this analogy is doomed on the simple reasoning
that one generally does not choose one’s street address,
while every domain name is expressly selected by its
owner.

DOMAIN NAME DISPUTES

 Such blackmail is encouraged partly due to the high
cost of litigating a domain name infringement case.
 Essentially, a cyber squatter lacks a legitimate claim
over the domain name, but still registers it for any
of the following purposes:
 (I) to sell the same for profit, or
 (ii) to prevent the trademark holder from gaining
access to the name, or
 (iii) to divert traffic to another website; or
 (iv) to harass or ridicule the competitor or prevent
them from establishing a website using that name.

DOMAIN NAME DISPUTES Cont:

 Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution
Policy (UDRP) and the Rules form a complete
administrative procedure to be followed by the
ICANN-Approved Dispute Resolution Providers for
resolving domain name disputes among the parties.
 In order to make it convenient for the parties
involved, ICANN-Approved Dispute Resolution
Providers have made all the necessary
arrangements to complete all formalities and
documentation online without any requirement to
personally visit any of the offices of these
Providers.

Uniform Domain Name Dispute

Resolution Policy (UDRP)
Currently, there are four ICANN-Approved
Dispute
1)Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution
Centre (ADNDRC)Resolution Providers:
2)National Arbitration Forum (NAF or
FORUM)
3)World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO)
4)Arbitration Centre for Internet Disputes.
In India, National Centre for Software Technology (NCST)
is the body that regulates country level domain name
registration. On September 26, 2000 NCST added two
more domain names “ind.in” (for individuals) and
“gen.in” (for organizations) to facilitate registration of
individuals and organizations under the .in category. The
two new categories of domain name do not require the
applicant’s presence in the country as an essential
requirement for registration.

National Centre for Software

Technology (NCST)