Do Business Well

The issue of digital trademark and copyright protection has become a hornet’s nest since the commercialization of the World Wide Web. You need to register a domain name if you want to do business on the World Wide Web. Network Solutions, which handles the registration of domain names, has been doling them out on a first-come, first-serve basis, regardless of who owns the trademark. But now that companies are waking up to the commercial potential of the Web, they are screaming foul if the name they want has been taken by someone else, especially if they have a federal trademark protecting the name.

In a test case, Roadrunner Computer Systems sued Network Solutions. The computer company was upset because Warner Brothers was given the right to the domain name, roadrunner.com, even though the computer company had secured it months before with Network Solutions. The registrar sided with Warner Brothers because the television and movie company owns a US federal trademark on the word “Roadrunner.” However, the computer company was not to be outdone. They acquired a federal trademark for “roadrunner” as well — but in Tunisia, not in the United States. Roadrunner Computer Systems had read the fine print of the domain name guidelines which stated that federally registered trademarks have priority. But it doesn’t say from which federal government — the US, China, Tunisia, or any other country.

In another case, the Avon company filed suit in a New York court against Carnetta Wong Associates which held the domain name avon.com. Avon claimed the use of its registered trademark in a domain name was integral to its ability to conduct business on the Internet. Avon filed suit in court claiming Carnetta Wong Associates had contravened the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (1995), which enables companies to sue someone who infringes, or attempts to dilute, their registered trademarks. At the time of this writing, the case is still pending.

Hundreds of other similar cases are cropping up as companies start to use the Internet and digital technology for marketing. Because of the problems associated with copyright and trademark on the Internet, in the next few years thousands of companies will battle to wrestle control of domain names. Companies from different countries and different industries will claim the trademark rights for the same domain names. As a solution, Internet administrators are thinking about introducing new domain name levels in addition to .com, such as .biz, .sports, or ent. However, I believe this will confuse the issue further. Companies will want to register all the possible domain names using their trademark — for example, acme.com, acme.biz, acme.ent. New domain name levels won’t address the conflict between domain names and trademarks.

Because of this confusion in the Internet community, I advise you to register your domain name now as well get a Free Web Hosting. If you wait, you might miss out or face the prospect of a legal battle.

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