Recently, the weixin.com arbitration event drew lots of people’s attention. No matter what the consequence is, it must have aroused domainers’ worries about their domains. It is an essential lesson to take in avoiding domain name arbitration for all the domainers, website owners, and companies.
1. Firstly check whether the domain has been registered as a trademark or not. Which trademark category does it belong to? Is it a well-known trademark? If it is just a general trademark, you only need to establish website avoiding to using it under the trademark category they have registered.
2. The website content, layout, framework, color, LOGO, etc. should have a clear distinction with the end-user’s.
3. No malicious hype and publicity. Do not take advantages in copying sites with the similarity of domain and trademark.
4. Do not link the corporation's website to your page misleading people which constitutes a malicious use.
5. Don't take the initiative to contact end-user to sell the domain name, otherwise end-user may prove your malicious cyber squatting.
6. Leave the commonly used mail in the whois information and response to the emails relevant to domain arbitration in time. If you don’t deal with it timely, it will be considered as a waiver of default. Besides, once you receive an e-mail notification of UDRP, remember to lock the domain name first.
A legal adviser is very useful for domain name investors, website owners and companies, not only in domain name arbitration, but also in avoiding or reducing the risk. We also hope that every domainer can respect brands and trademarks avoiding infringement of the third parties’ interests.
Domain name arbitration, in particular, involving in trademark, often appears in the arbitration case. However domain arbitration is not easy and it may turn to be a reverse domain hijacking.
Case :
There is a private Asset Management Co. called New Forest in Australia and its official domain name is NewForests.com.au. In 2015, the company applied for an arbitration of NewForests.com.
NewForests.com was registered in January 1999, and the domain name NewForests.com.au was registered in June 2006. The company was founded in 2005.
The complainant claimed that the company started to use the trademark "New Forest" in 2000. The defendant said that the complainant intended to purchase the disputed domain name with $4000, however the defendant did not agree, asking the price of at least $88000.
Arbitration Commission believes it was reverse domain name hijacking.
Ditsch.com is another case happened in Germany in Jan 2016 and the story is very similar to NewForests.com. As a domainer, our legitimate rights and interests should be protected and the domain name could not be arbitrated arbitrarily!
Domain cyber squatting born with domain investing have never stopped. More new TLDs are opening registration which leads to more cyber squatting cases. Domain name differs from trademark. A company who owns a trademark does not automatically have the ownership of its brand domain name. If you can prove its cyber squatting and it is malicious, you can apply for domain arbitration.
Therefore, with the increase of Internet infringement, as an Internet company operator, you must have strong awareness of network brand crisis. Brand protection is very important and domain name arbitration could not be ignored at anytime.
How to avoid domains arbitration?
1. Firstly check whether the domain has been registered as a trademark or not. Which trademark category does it belong to? Is it a well-known trademark? If it is just a general trademark, you only need to establish website avoiding to using it under the trademark category they have registered.
2. The website content, layout, framework, color, LOGO, etc. should have a clear distinction with the end-user’s.
3. No malicious hype and publicity. Do not take advantages in copying sites with the similarity of domain and trademark.
4. Do not link the corporation's website to your page misleading people which constitutes a malicious use.
5. Don't take the initiative to contact end-user to sell the domain name, otherwise end-user may prove your malicious cyber squatting.
6. Leave the commonly used mail in the whois information and response to the emails relevant to domain arbitration in time. If you don’t deal with it timely, it will be considered as a waiver of default. Besides, once you receive an e-mail notification of UDRP, remember to lock the domain name first.
A legal adviser is very useful for domain name investors, website owners and companies, not only in domain name arbitration, but also in avoiding or reducing the risk. We also hope that every domainer can respect brands and trademarks avoiding infringement of the third parties’ interests.
Domain name arbitration, in particular, involving in trademark, often appears in the arbitration case. However domain arbitration is not easy and it may turn to be a reverse domain hijacking.
Case :
There is a private Asset Management Co. called New Forest in Australia and its official domain name is NewForests.com.au. In 2015, the company applied for an arbitration of NewForests.com.
NewForests.com was registered in January 1999, and the domain name NewForests.com.au was registered in June 2006. The company was founded in 2005.
The complainant claimed that the company started to use the trademark "New Forest" in 2000. The defendant said that the complainant intended to purchase the disputed domain name with $4000, however the defendant did not agree, asking the price of at least $88000.
Arbitration Commission believes it was reverse domain name hijacking.
Ditsch.com is another case happened in Germany in Jan 2016 and the story is very similar to NewForests.com. As a domainer, our legitimate rights and interests should be protected and the domain name could not be arbitrated arbitrarily!
What to do if your brand domain registered maliciously?
Domain cyber squatting born with domain investing have never stopped. More new TLDs are opening registration which leads to more cyber squatting cases. Domain name differs from trademark. A company who owns a trademark does not automatically have the ownership of its brand domain name. If you can prove its cyber squatting and it is malicious, you can apply for domain arbitration.
Therefore, with the increase of Internet infringement, as an Internet company operator, you must have strong awareness of network brand crisis. Brand protection is very important and domain name arbitration could not be ignored at anytime.
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