IP addresses, i.e. an identifier for a device or website in Internet, are not particularly user-friendly. It is easier to use a name, like for example “freylinger”. A domain name identifies one or more IP addresses. For instance, the domain name freylinger.com represents two IP addresses. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular Web pages. The domain name therefore is a representation of the trademark on Internet. It provides high visibility for the trademark, especially if a website is active under the domain.
Every domain name has a suffix that indicates which top-level domain (TLD) it belongs to. There is only a limited number of such domains. For example:
- .com – commercial business
- .eu – European companies or citizens
- .lu – Luxembourg
- .de – Germany
- .fr – France
A domain name can contain 3 to 63 alphanumeric characters (letters, numbers or dashes), and can therefore take the verbal elements of the brand. The domain name is not related to an activity or to specific products. In addition, the rule of registration is simple, namely: “first come, first served”.
There are many cases in which the domain names corresponding to a trademark have been registered by a third party in bad faith. To avoid such inconvenience, it is recommended to protect the trademark on the Internet by registering the corresponding domain name.
Domain names are sometimes reserved by third parties, in good faith or bad faith. In this case, we check the rights of the holder of the domain name, and verify that said domain name constitutes no infringement of trademark rights. If required and/or useful, we than intervene against bad faith registrations.