1. Saravanan. A, LL.M- IPR,Symbiosis Law School.

2. DomainName Levels of Domain Name ICANN Domain names: Addressesor Trademarks? Domain Name Disputes Types of Domain NameDisputes Remedies 3. With the advancement of new technology, every personwants to have access cyber world. To navigate through this vast global collection ofintercontennected computer networks (the internet), thedomain name system (DNS) was invented. Domain names are now highly visible in real space aswell- showing up a television commercials, billboards,magazine ads, and even the side of buses. 4. Domain names is primarily used to identify one computer fromthe millions of others connected to the internet enabling usersto send e-mail, to access web pages, to transfer files. No two people can have the same telephone number and Notwo organizations can have the same domain name . An IP address consists of multiple levels identified byboth, numbers and names. The number consists of four partsseparated by periods (dots). For e.g. 173.0.133.225- www.symlaw.ac.in (string number) 5. A domain name can be categorically divided into two levels.1) Top- level domains (TLD) divided into: Two-letter country codes (ccTLD) according to the ISO 3166Standard (such as .in for India, .ar for Argentina, .fr for France; etc.) As of October 2009, there are 21 generic top-level domainsand 250 two-letter country-code top-level domains. Three-letter generic top level domains (gTLD) of whichimportant are: .com .org .net .edu .gov .mil .intFor eg: (www.symlaw.ac.in)- .in 6. 2) Second- level domains(SLD): Under gLTDs, second level domains are chosen by theapplicant; below the top-level domains in the domainname hierarchy are the second-level domain (SLD)names. These are the names directly to the left of.com, .net, and the other top-level domains. For e.g. .symlaw.ac SLD is more essential for our part of thediscussion, because domain dispute arises here only. 7. interNIC -internet network information center (interNIC) maintains and administers thecentral database of all internet domain names NSI (US department of commerce)- first come, first servedbasis- interNIC granted Network Solutions Inc. (NSI) the exclusive authority to register domainnames in the .com, .net and .org TLDs on behalf of the U.S Department of Commerce. In November 1998, Internet Corporation for Assigned Namesand Numbers (ICANN) was formed to assume responsibilityfor the IP address allocation, protocol parameter assignment,domain name system management, and root server systemmanagement functions and it is located in california. Restrictions for registration. 8. Active TLD100,349,876 .Com14,493,834.Net9,782,733 .Org8,266,234 .Info2,193,976 .Biz1,757,316 .Us136,976,619 TotalLast Updated : 2012-01-30 9. As trademark is used to distinguish the goods andservices of one trader and it lets the general publicassociate the mark with any identity, it is defined as asource identifier. In a similar manner, with the increase of commercialactivities on the internet, the domain name is also usedas a business identifier. In the landmark case of Rediff Communication Ltd VCyberbooth(AIR 2000 Bom 27), the court held that thedomain name is a symbol that helps to ascertain theaffiliation or association with its owner. 10. There are four types of domain namedisputes: Cybersquatting, Profit Grabbing, MisspellingandIdentical Domain Name, ConcurrentClaims. 11. Cybersquatting refers to the practice of domain namesreflecting the names of existing companies, with anintention to sell the names back to businesses for a profitwhen they want to set up their websites.IN USA: Doctrine of Dilution. Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).IN INDIA: cybersquatting has not been brought within the purviewof the IT Act, In case of judicial challenges in Indiancourts concerning infringement of trademarks by use ofdomain names. 12. Bisleri Case: In an Indian cybersquatting case also, popularly knownas Bisleri case [Acqua Minerals Ltd. V Pramod Borse,2001 PTC 619 (del)]: www.bisleri.comMr. Arun Jaitley Vs. Network Solutions Private Limitedand Ors. (181(2011) DLT716 : Decided On: 04.07.2011, before Delhi High Court.www.arunjaitley.com 13. In this kind of domain dispute, the defendant indulges inthe registration of a domain name similar to the otherssame or confusingly similar trademark or tradename, inorder to gain profits out of such business.Satyam Infoway Ltd. V Sifynet Solutions Pvt. Ltd:(2004) 6 SCC 145 www.sifynet.comwww.siffynet.com www.sifyrealestate.com www.siffynet.net www.sifymain.com 14. With the increase in business opportunities onInternet, many people tend to register domainnames, which appear to be similar to that of the alreadyregistered domain names. It leads to confusion and misrepresentation in the mindsof the general public with regard to the owner of suchdomain name.Yahoo! Inc. Vs Akash Arora [1999 (19) PTC 210 (Delhi)]: This case is to be considered as the first domain case inIndia decided by Supreme Court. www.yahoo.comwww.yahooindia.com 15. Rediff Communication Ltd. V Cyberbooth (AIR 2000 Bom 27): www.rediff.com www.radiff.comInfo Edge (India) Pvt. Ltd V Shailesh Gupta 2002 (24)PTC 355 (Del)www.naukri.comwww.naukari.com 16. Concurrent claims arise when two legitimate parties areinvolved in a dispute over a domain name, where eachparty claims that they are the true and legitimate ownersof the acquired domain name, without any intention topass off. Nissan MotorsCo. Ltd. Vs Nissan ComputerCorporation:www.nissan .comwww.nissan .comwww.nissan.net www.nissan.net 17. URDP- Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policyis a policy adopted by ICANN that provides a mechanismfor trademark owners to obtain domain names from cybersquatters. The first dispute under the ICANN policy was decided onJanuary 14, 2000, and has been published by theWIPO, which provided the single panelist.World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. VsMichael Bosman. 18. Disputes over web addresses are gaining ground in indiaover the past few years. Along the lines of the Anti Cybersquatting Act of the USand there by send a strong signal to the cybersquattersthat we are not going to take intellectual propertyviolations in the cyberspace lightly. 19. Domain Names, Global Practice and Procedure. Sweet &Maxwell 2000. Copyright and Trademark Laws relating to computers byPankaj Jain and Pandey Sangeet Rai. Trademarks, the emerging cyber property rights by V.K.Unni. Law of Trademarks and Passing off by P. Narayanan. 20. http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/html/1999/d1999-0001.html http://www.irs.internic.net/cgi-bin/reg/domain-form http://www.webhosting.info/domains/country_stats/?ob=TOTAL&oo=ASC