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 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
Dec 12th, 2007 | Countries, European Union, Trademark | No Comments
Trade marks are a key element in corporate policy for establishing a good reputation and presenting a company’s goods and services to the public. In this way, thye origin of goods and services can be identified in respect of a company and consumers can build up trust in the company’s products. As a consequence of European integration, it is becoming ever more important to businesses to focus their trade mark policies on the greater European market. Read more
Jul 19th, 2007 | Countries, India, Trademark | No Comments
Kangaro Industries Limited enforced their trade mark/trade dress rights by obtaining an ex-parte ad-interim injunction from the Delhi High Court against the Evershine STY. Industries for allegedly copying their unique get-up Lay-out and colour combination of blue and warm grey and selling their products under the Trade Mark FROG.
For more information click here
