Nominet tackles domain name disputes

Trademark owners will not be guaranteed protection against cybersquatting involving the .uk domain name, under proposals from registrar Nominet.

The news comes as disputes over domain names escalate. Budget airline Easyjet last month won a High Court injunction to gain ownership of easyrealestate.co.uk. The court ruled that the design and colours were similar to the Easyjet logo, and were therefore misleading.

The registrar's proposal for solving cybersquatting disputes includes a free 14-day mediation period, rising to a decision by an independent legal expert for a fee of up to £1000, payable by the complainant. Public consultation on the plans is open until the end of March.

Nominet, which controls registration of all .uk suffixes, said that the arbitration of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) and the Universal Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) are biased in favour of registered trademark owners.

Legal experts said that Wipo arbitration is inconsistent, and that the advice for users is to shore up the offline trademarks for their intellectual property.

"Sting failed at Wipo because it was decided that the word 'sting' predated the pop star Sting. But then Madonna succeeded. To think that this Madonna was the first one is surely news to the Roman Catholic church," said Eversheds IT lawyer Jonathan Armstrong.

Under UDRP, complainants must prove that they own the trademark and intellectual property rights to the name under dispute.

But Nominet said that this does not address the concerns of small to medium sized firms that don't own trademarks.

"The UDRP favours trademark orders, whereas the Nominet approach is neutral. In our new proposals there is a clarification suggested which will substantiate whether a registration has been made in bad faith. That will address some of the conflicts in cybersquatting," said Lesley Cowley, operations director at the firm.