Domain Name Disputes
As the Internet evolves, domain names become increasingly valuable. Doing business online and business processes in the virtual space no longer surprises anyone. The digital world has become a separate competitive platform. Against the backdrop of high demand, market participants appear who use various methods of competition or outright fraud through the registration of domain names and the creation of “pirate” websites.
Under the laws of most countries, domain name protection is achieved through a registered trademark in a specific country or countries. Of course, the wider the protection of a trademark, the greater the chances of protecting the domain name and the site as a whole.
It is necessary to take into account the following: a domain name consists of the name itself and the level of the domain to which it belongs, separated by a dot. For example, a full domain name is sion.ua, where sion is a name that is registered as a trademark in class 45, and .ua, separated by a dot, is a top-level domain.
To understand how domain rights can be violated, you must first understand domain zones (levels).
Domain levels
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has been registering generic domains through accredited registrars since 1998.
So, there are domains of the top (first), second, third, fourth levels. Sometimes levels are also called domain zones. Top level domains: .com .net. org .uk .us .club In addition, top-level domains are divided into groups:
- Country code top level domains (cctld) – .uk .us .eu others
- International (generic) top-level domains (gTLDs) – .com .info .org .net
- New international top-level domains (new gTLDs) are thematic domain zones aimed at various areas of life and business: .hobbies, .fashion, professional activities, other .business .money .lawyer
Second-level domains are what is separated by a dot from the top-level domain name. For example, .uk is a ccTLD created for the UK, and .co.uk is a 2nd level domain registered for that zone. There are also 3rd and 4th level domains, but they are less in demand.
Separately, I would like to highlight the types of domains that are now actively gaining momentum for the rapidly developing crypto business and the Metaverse. These are the domains .eth .crypto .bitcoin and others. These domain zones are not subject to ICANN rules.
Domain name and trademark
An important argument for the successful resolution of a domain dispute is the presence of a registered trademark that exactly matches the verbal part of the domain name. Trademarks are protected separately in each country. Therefore, before conquering new online markets, it is necessary to develop a brand registration strategy and, as a result, protect the domain name.
The presence of such protection allows you to cancel the registration of a similar domain name and prohibit the violator from using a clone domain. These rules were developed by ICAN and are implemented through the domain name dispute resolution procedure of the Domain Disputes Chamber of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Domain name disputes
Domain rights violation cases have a number of features. Initiation of such cases is possible only if there is a registration of a national or international trademark. The wider the geography of trademark protection, the greater the chances of protecting the domain name.
In order to find out information about the violator, you should contact the registry of any Whois domain registrar. After this, we prepare a claim in which we set out all the arguments for violating domain rights, attach evidence and send it to the violator’s email.
If the infringer continues to use the clone site and does not abandon the cloned domain, we turn to the WIPO Domain Disputes Chamber or to court. Our lawyers have successful experience in resolving disputes with domain names both in the WIPO Domain Dispute Chamber and in domain name and trademark litigation. Each case is strictly individual for us, so we approach the defense strategy professionally and creatively, which leads to the desired result.
For more detailed advice, write to: info@sion-ip.com.
Crypto domains
What is a crypto domain? How to buy and use it? These questions are increasingly appearing online among crypto communities and beyond. Experts say that the popularity of crypto domains will grow. This might be the next big thing for the virtual world. Because these domains are based on the Ethereum blockchain, which ensures their security. In addition, these domains use the ERC-721 interchangeable token (NFT) standard, which confirms their uniqueness.
Crypto domains have certain advantages, namely:
- replace existing wallet addresses with human-readable names, which allows you to store and manage crypto assets
- the ability to launch a website with a domain in IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) – decentralized Internet
- confidential, encrypted communication
- selling domains as NFTs on the OpenSea and LooksRare platforms
- Web 3 marketing capabilities
Unstoppable domains
A crypto domain cannot be purchased if you have not created your own crypto wallet. The MetaMask application is the most popular and convenient for this purpose. After successful installation and creation of a wallet on the ens.domains platform (for .eth crypto domains) or https://unstoppabledomains.com (.crypto .nft others) it is possible to choose and purchase for a certain period (a year, two, more) the name you need. The main thing is that this name is not taken.
Unstoppable domains’ mission is to provide the market with a decentralized, censorship-free internet. The project team hopes to connect hundreds of millions of users to centralized networks. They believe that in this case, everyone who bought a crypto domain will have ownership rights to it and full control over their digital content.
The developers of the Unstoppable domains project believe that crypto payments should become an essential part of the Internet of the future. Therefore, their goal is to make blockchain domains the industry standard for the transfer of digital assets.
The difference between crypto domains and traditional domains
A crypto domain is not just a domain, but a separate digital asset on the Blockchain. The owner of the domain is fully responsible for access to it; if the private key is lost, then access will be lost.
The owner of the crypto domain receives full access to domain management. For example, he can independently sell a domain without the participation of the platform where he bought this domain. Having full control over a domain almost completely eliminates the possibility of external censorship and significantly increases security. Only the owner of the blockchain domain and the website on it can delete it, make any changes, or block access to it. At the same time, we essentially lease traditional DNS domains for a specific period.
All crypto domains are stored in a decentralized public registry – in the Blockchain, and not on a server. Unlike traditional domains where there is a central governing body for registrars – ICANN and strict obedience to its rules, blockchain domains do not have a centralized governing body.
Crypto domain disputes
Given the complete independence in the actions of the domain owner on the blockchain, a number of opportunities arise for manipulation of such domains and fraud. Many owners of traditional .com top-level domains have already encountered the problem of third parties purchasing crypto domains with their protected name. This problem especially affected the owners of rapidly developing Internet exchanges.
It came as a surprise to many to see on the OpenSea platform an offer to sell a crypto domain with the name of its exchange, which is protected as a trademark in most countries. In addition, scammers offer to purchase such domains directly to the owners or their representatives through Twitter and other social networks. In some cases, the cost of such domains exceeds 5,000 USD, with a cost of 10 USD per year.
This number of violations is growing every day. Considering the concept of crypto domains, protecting the rights of the real owner of the name is quite more difficult than in traditional disputes with domain names. As stated above, the use of traditional domains must be in accordance with ICANN rules. This greatly simplifies the procedure.
Disputes with crypto domains proceed differently than disputes with traditional domains. At the same time, our company already has experience with a fraudster refusing a crypto domain that he acquired for the purpose of enrichment. We use non-standard legal mechanisms to ensure that a fraudster has no chance of controlling a crypto domain, which could discredit our client’s reputation and cause possible negative financial consequences. For detailed advice, write to us by email: info@sion-ip.com.
