DOMAIN DISPUTES


Nominet, the UK registry, offers its own dispute resolution service (DRS) and Eurid, which runs the European Domain Name Registry, also offers its own alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Other ADR services are offered by individual registries, and some have none at all.


Eurid’s ADR is administered by the Czech Arbitration Court and is based upon EC Regulation 874/2004, in particular Article 21, which states that a registered domain name shall be subject to revocation (i) when it is identical, or confusingly similar, to a name in respect of which a right is recognised or established by national and/or Community law; (ii) when it has been registered by its holder without rights or legitimate interest in the name; or (iii) when it has been registered, or is being used, in bad faith.


Te Nominet DRS can be viewed on its website at http://www.nominet.org.uk/disputes/drs/


Te complainant to Nominet must prove that it has “rights in respect of a name or mark which is identical or similar to the domain name” and that the domain name, in the hands of the respondent, is an abusive registration. Te complainant must prove that both elements are present on the balance of probabilities. Tese “rights” mean rights that are enforceable by the complainant, whether under English law or


otherwise, and may include rights in descriptive terms which have acquired a secondary meaning.


An abusive registration means a domain name which was registered, or otherwise acquired, in a manner which, at the time the registration or acquisition took place, took unfair advantage of, or was unfairly detrimental to, the complainant’s


www.worldipreview.com Trademarks Brands and the Internet Volume 1, Issue 2 57


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