Everything’s gone digital, and so did Infringers

Domain Name Disputes

Abstract

The emergence of E-commerce and an exponential increase in technology led proprietors to expand their activities all over the internet. Before entering cyberspace, a business needs an identity, such an identity was earlier known as an IP address. As time changed, the IP addresses got replaced with the Domain Name system because it was difficult to remember all numeric traditional IP Addresses. Evolution in telecommunication indicates the importance of governing the domain name system.

The first chapter of the research gives a brief exordium about Domain Names and their registration. There is a misconception that Domain Names and Trademarks are similar, which will be clear through the interplay between Domain Names and Trademarks. The essay will unfold various kinds of Domain Name disputes such as cyber-squatting, meta-tagging, name-jacking, and typo-squatting. They are discussed in length together with relevant case laws.

As the article proceeds, it appears that in India, unlike trademarks, there is no statute for the protection of domain names. Through this research, we will examine two sets of forums that protect domain names from abuse. We will discuss the emergence of UDRP and INDRP that protect domain names and bring uniformity. We will further look at different types of disputes that are maintainable under UDRP and INDRP. An in-depth discussion will take place regarding the entire procedure of the dispute between the complainant and the respondent. The study concludes with some suggestions that might help safeguard one’s trademark from being disputed by a third party.