Aug 5th, 2008 | Domain Name, India, Trademark, cybersquatting | 2 Comments
.IN Domain Name Dispute Arbitration Fee Slashed
IPRFirm, New Delhi: .IN Registry has slashed its Domain Name Dispute Resolution Arbitration fee.
The fee charged by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) was as follows -:
.IN Administration Fee :Rs. 5,000
Arbitrators Fee : Rs. 25,000
The new fee schedule which is in force now has revised as follows -:
.IN Administration Fee : Rs. 1,000
Arbitrators Fee : Rs. 9,000
For Personal Hearing : Rs. 5,000/- per hearing (Maximum to four hearings)
It is expected to increase the filing of .INDRP Disputes with the registry which was detrimental to the high costs earlier.
May 27th, 2008 | Blackmailing, Cyber Crime, Domain Name, Internet Abuse, Vietnam, cybersquatting | No Comments
Domain Blackmailing - Vietnam
Lotus Steel Sheet Company (LSSC) has been blackmailed by 24 year person named Huynh Chi Hieu. He was arrested by the City police following the complaint that Hieu demanded US $2,500 selling the domain name TONHOASEN.COM which was the group holding company of LSCC named Hoa Sen Group.
Police arrested Hieu while excepting 30 million VND from LSCC at their office.
May 17th, 2008 | Domain Name, Internet Abuse, Trademark, cybersquatting | No Comments
The most common type of theft in an online world is a theft of your online identity or your online assets.
Your online asset like Domain Names which is very crucial to your business can easily be misappropriated by your employees or your partners and to the extent by your dealers or franchises.
We receive lot of queries concerning the theft of the Domain Names which are your Trademarks built over a considerable period of time being stolen by a partner of the firm or by an employee of the company or by the web developer or by the dealers or franchises of the firm or company.
There is a lack of corporate strategies being adopted by the companies which is giving rise to such kind of crimes.
Let us examine few situations
1. Domain registered by a Web Developer -:
Lot of times registration of Domain Names are left in the hands of Web Developers which in turn register your well known marks in their name. Many a times you see your or your company name as the Registrant Name in the WHOIS but the e-mail ID’s are in the name of the web developer.
In such a situation, the renewal reminders and the authority to change or direct the Nameservers remain with the Web Developer which in turn can land you in a dispute at a later date.
Tip: Always register a Domain Name in your personal or your firm or company name and ensure that you update the records on regular basis to avoid lapse of the name due to small negligence.
2. Registration in the name of an individual in a Partnership Firm / Company -:
The second situation wherein the Domain Name Registration is done in the name of individual partner or the Director of a Company.
If there is a dissolution of a firm or company, the retiring partner in whose name the Domain Name registration is done tries to extort money from the firm / company in lieu of transferring the Domain Name to the firm.
Tip: Always Register a Domain Name in the Name of the Firm / Company. Put a clause in the Partnership Agreement about the ownership of the Online Property of the firm / Company in case of Dissolution.
3. Registration of Domain Names by the Employees -:
This is a common query received by our firm and has been noticed that the registration & maintainance of Domain Name portfolios are left in the hands of the employees of the organization which if leaves the job at any particular point of time, misappropriate with the assets of the company / firm.
Tip : Never leave a control in the hands of your employee. Always provide the information necessary for your employees to manage the affairs and not the full administrative controls. If for any reason your details have been misappropriated, contact your lawyer immediately.
4. Registration of Domain names by the dealers or franchises -:
The upcoming issue for consideration is that whether a dealer or franchisee of a company be permitted to register a domain name similar to that of the franchiser?
There are two set of thoughts given by the industry on this issue and the same remains open for debate till today.
Tip : We recommend that you should always register a Domain Name under one portfolio managed by your company and license the same to your dealers or franchises for use and provide the details for the same in the Franchisee / Dealership Agreement. You should also mention about the termination of use of the Domain Name by the licensee on the expiration or Termination of the Franchisee Agreement.
To know more about our practice and your specific queries do mail us at info@iprfirm.com
Technorati Tags: domain theft, registration, portfolio management, online policeing
Mar 20th, 2008 | India, cybersquatting | No Comments
Noida District Court Stays National Arbitration Forum (NAF)
Panel Decision of Domain Names remit2.home.com and remit2home1.com
Lawarcade.com, New Delhi; the District Court of Noida (Uttar Pradesh) has stayed the execution of decision of Sandra J. Franklin, the sole penalist who ordered the transfer of Domain Names remit2home.com and remit2home1.com in favour of Remit Home Corporation vide its decision dated 21st February, 2008.
Times of money who owned the disputed Domain Names has recently filed Section 34 Petition under the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 which the Court has registered and has issued stay notice to the execution of the transfer of disputed Domain Names.
In the complaint filed by Remit Home Corporation through A. Dennis Reis, complainant contended that respondents Domain Names were confusingly similar to complainant’s REMIT HOME mark. They also contended that respondents have registered disputed Domain Names remit2home.com and remit2home1.com in bad faith.
However, the respondents through Rodney D. Ryder (Foxmandal Little & Co.) contended that the disputed Domain Names are the natural extension of respondent’s brand “remit2india†and respondents have been operating the disputed Domain Names since 18th December, 2006. The main ground invoked by Times of Money under Section 34 Petition was that National Arbitration Forum had errored grossly by quoting various case laws in support of its award related to cyber squatters and applied in a case wherein the Domains have not been registered with an intention to earn profits or to sell the Domain Names or to encash upon the goodwill and reputation of the complainants.
Technorati Tags: naf, times of india, remit to india,
