|
Registering and Protecting Domain Names
It is fairly easy to register a domain name with a .com, .org, or .net extension that is not already registered. For details as to registering a domain name with a .com, .org, or .net extension, please view www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html or www.networksolutions.com, or send an e-mail message to hostmaster@networksolutions.com. For details as to registering a domain name with a .ca extension, please view http://www.cira.ca/ and then send an e-mail message to one of the members of the CA domain committee there listed. Regrettably the Canadian procedure is not as efficient, fast or straightforward as the U.S. procedure for registering domain names, but most legitimate applicants eventually obtain a registration. We shall be pleased to assist as required. Transfers of domain names with .com, .org, or .net extensions can also be effected through Network Solutions Inc. Please view www.networksolutions.com/makechanges/rnca/agreement.html for details. Transfers of domain names with .ca extensions can be effected through the same channels as original registrations.
However, just as registering a corporate name does not give the registrant any right to use that name in contravention of others' existing trademark or trade name rights, equally the registration of a domain name gives the registrant only a contingent right to use the name; that right may be terminated if use of the domain name conflicts with (i.e., may be confused with) any previously established domain name or prior trademark or trade name right of someone else. Any use of a domain name that interferes with the established trade of anyone else who has previously used a confusing trademark or trade name or domain name is actionable and may subject the newcomer to a claim for damages as well as an injunction requiring the newcomer to stop using the domain name.
Further, a "squatter's right" to a domain name will not be recognized. Anyone registering a domain name with the objective of selling it to someone else, for example, may be disappointed to find that the domain name administrator or the court will compel cancellation of the domain name registration.
To protect a domain name against cancellation proceedings, either the entirety of the domain name or the distinctive portion of the domain name should be registered as a trademark, preferably both in the U.S. and Canada as well as in any other countries in which the registrant has or expects a market for its goods or services. Some latitude is permitted as to the correlation of the trademark with the domain name. For example, the owner of the trademark THE ADDED TOUCH has registered the domain name addedtouch.com. Note that the mere creation of a website using the domain name does not constitute use in trade sufficient to support a trademark application in the U.S. or Canada, but a trademark application may be filed initially on the basis of an intention to use. For further information, refer to the Trademark Information portion of this website, or request written such information from us.
|
|
