Domain Name Disputes

Domain Name is a word or a combination of words which act as an address to identify the business or brand online or on the internet. The Domain Names are used to locate the website. It is the unique reference that represents a webpage which form a part of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

Domain Names can be registered and protected as Trademarks so long as the Domain Name meets the requirements of a Trademark under The Trade Marks Act, 1999. Domain Names as registered Trademarks are protected at a universal level primarily by the organisation, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Resultantly, in case of any abusive registrations or infringing use, an individual shall have the option to file a Domain Name Dispute complaint under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (at an international level) or under the .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (at a national level).

A Domain Name Dispute may arise when there is infringing, conflicting and/or unauthorised use of a Domain Name on part of an individual. In order to successfully establish a Domain Name dispute the complainant is required to satisfy the following aspects:

• the Registrant's Domain Name is identical and/or confusingly similar to a name, Trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights;
• the Registrant has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name; the Registrant's Domain Name has been registered or is being used in bad faith.

A complaint can be filed either under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UNDRP) or .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (INDRP). As per the UDRP provisions, the complainant is required to submit the complaint in the prescribed format along with the evidencing documents and prescribed fee.

Under INDRP, the Complainant is required to submit all the relevant documents along with the complaint to National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) in an electronic form along with the specified fee.

As the internet is not restricted by any borders or boundaries, it can very well be the case that a Domain Name infringement has occurred from a different country especially due to global presence of the companies. In such a case, the person can use the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) which is standard and uniform across the world.

The Domain Name Disputes can be resolved using various mechanisms. Proceedings before the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UNDRP) or .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (INDRP) which are governed by arbitral proceedings. Alternatively, the complainant can also resort to civil remedies.