Brand Protection & Trade Marks - Domain names
Domain names are a fundamental aspect of branding and the internet. When you buy a domain name, you are impliedly agreeing that you are not infringing the rights of trademark owners, so it is worth first checking that your chosen company or product name is problem free. This can be done by way of a trademark clearance search. If someone has registered a domain name in bad faith or to ‘cyber squat’ then you may be able to recover the domain name without having to buy it from the owner. Depending on the circumstances you may want to invoke the dispute resolution procedures of the relevant registration authorities. This is work we are often involved in. Domain names and trademarks are separate and unrelated pieces of property although they are linked by the fact that each is relevant to a brand and both have value. You should consider registering a trademark as it gives you additional rights to the corresponding domain name, and provides a significant advantage in the recovery of a domain name from a cyber squatter. Also, whenever you register a domain name outside the UK, ensure you buy the corresponding domain name for that country. This is something we can help you with, as we offer a comprehensive domain name service, and are able to arrange worldwide domain name registration of both generic top-level names (including .com; .org; .net; .info; .biz) and country level domain names. We also provide a domain name watch service, portfolio management, recovery of domain names registered by cyber squatters, and dispute resolution.
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