- Photo credit; Tristan The Booklight on Flickr
The Sydney Morning Herald offers the following advice for domain owners to help them better protect their domains:
What rights does registering a domain name give you?
When you register a domain name you get a license giving you the exclusive right to use that domain name for a specific period. For .au domains this is two years.
Can someone register domain names that are similar to my business?
Yes they can. You have a license to use the specific domain names that you register. Other parties can register and use similar domain names.
Is this illegal?
No, simply registering domain names that are similar to another business’s domain name, does not breach current Australian law.
However, there are other serious considerations, including:
- Australian Domain Name Authority (auDA) policy applies to all .au domains and all Australian domain holders. Australian domain names may only be registered to Australian businesses. com.au and net.au domain names must be “an exact match, abbreviation or acronym of the registrant’s name or trademark or closely and substantially connected to the registrant”. Failure to demonstrate this connection can lead to the domain name being cancelled, under auDA policy.
- Using another trader’s registered trademark in the registered classes may be trademark infringement and a breach of the Trade Marks Act 1995.
- Australian Consumer Law prohibits misleading and deceptive conduct, including false and misleading representations that one business has an affiliation with another business that it does not have.
- Using another trader’s branding and/or trademarks, even if the branding is not a registered trademark, may be passing off.
How can I protect my brand online?
Legal solutions
- Choose a brand that is clearly distinguishable from your competitors can be easier to protect and defend.
- Include a copyright notice in your website terms that sets out your intellectual property rights.
- Consider registering variations of your main domain name.
- Register your business trade mark to give you the exclusive right to use this trade mark as a brand name for the products or services specific in your registration.
- Check for infringement.
To read more on this story, click here.
