What is Cyber Squatting? Domain Trademark infringement

Introduction

In order that the Internet domain name may be sold to another individual, corporation, or organization for profit, cybersquatting is the practice of registering it. The registration of marks and trade names by a third party that does not have the rights in those names shall be known as domain names. To put it plainly, cyber squatters (or bad faith imitators) register trademarks, trade names, company names and so on that belongs to third parties with the common purpose of trafficking in a third party's credibility, goodwill, and goodwill by either misled customers or potential customers.

Cyber squatter sells the domain to the individual or corporation that has a trademark used in the domain name to make illegitimate money, and it can be said to be a kind of lifting. Because someone else has already registered the specific domain name, it is not possible to register that specific domain name again in the name of the trademark holders. cyber squatter thus violates the constitutional rights of a trademark proprietor to use their trademark.

Cyber Squatting: In Indian Legal System

In India, there are many alternatives to cyber-squatting in India. These options include giving cyber squatters cessation letters, taking arbitration proceedings into the Internet company with assigned names and numbers, or purchasing legal proceedings at the federal or state courts. No matter what procedure the cybersquatting victim opts for, he must not expel the serious consequences of the cybersquatting, if left unchecked.

There is no provision in Indian law to penalize cyber squatters in the current or proposed Information Technology Act, but the best-case scenario is to recover the domain. While there is no legal compensation provided for under the IT Act, the registry has found a way to deter the squatter from robbing more areas through the victims' organizations. In either case, the majority of squatters work under dubious names.

What’s Domain Name?

The domain name is an integral part of the address allocated to each Internet machine or service. Any resource on the Internet, such as a website or a file of information has its own address known as the Uniform Resource Locator URL. Device domain name maps a number or IP address sequence of names. Then these are connected to an address, the domain name, which is readily remembered. If the machine or service changes, the domain name does not have to be changed, although the numbers sequence. The name of the domain has more importance for human beings than the number sequence. The Assigned Names and Number Internet Company (ICANN) handles top-ranking domain names. NSI uses a multi-level framework of TLD (such as.com and.net) which are known to be generic across the world when assigning a domain.

Ways to deal with cybersquatting

There are a variety of ways to deal with cybersquatting in India for example:

• The Cyber squatter sends letters of cease-and-desist.

• Opting for ICANN rules arbitration,

• Go before a state or federal tribunal for trial.

In order to resolve the case rapidly, a case should be sent to the register run by the Indian National Internet Exchange (NiXI). No provisions on the punishment of cyber-squatters are included in the information technology act in India. There is not any legal compensation provided for in the IT Act but the registry has taken measures to indemnify businesses that are victims, to prevent squatters from further robbery.

Indian Cases

1. Yahoo! Inc. v. Akash Arora

This is the first case of cybersquatting reported in India. In this case, the claimant was the owner of "yahoo.com" as a registered owner. He obtained a restraining injunction that prohibited the defendants from offering the name "yahooindia.com" or any other label identical to the plaintiff's registered trademark.

2. Tata Sons Ltd Vs. Ramadasoft

The defendant had a domain name in the name of Tata in that case. In this case, domain names contain not just the addresses but also the companies' trademarks. The domain names, in this case, were identical to the trademark of the plaintiff and the defendant used the name deliberately mala fide. The defendant was entitled to move the claimant's domain names in its favor.

3. Sbicards.com vs. Domain Active Property Ltd.

The Administrative panel, in this case, noted that because of its affiliations with SBI Cards goods and services, the defendant had a registered name, which had been registered with mala Fide purpose and may have drawn public attention.

Dispute Resolution

Disputes relating to registrations in bad faith are generally resolved by means of the ICANN mechanism of Uniform domain name dispute resolution (UDRP). Under UDRP, WIPO is the leading provider of dispute settlement services for ICANN accredited domain names and has been developed as a vehicle for securing, disseminating and using intellectual property worldwide. India has also developed its own IN Registry registry, under the authority of NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India), in which the domain name dispute is settled under the. Under Dispute Resolution Policy. The NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India) (INDRP). The strategy has been formulated in accordance with internationally agreed principles and the applicable Indian Information Technology Act 2000 provisions.

Conclusion

Cybersquatting is a virus that desperately needs an effective anti-dote created or found in the form of efficient legislation, otherwise, it can lead to an epidemic that enables cyber squatters to become the target of vulnerable domain names. Cybersquatting is seen as a hazard without borders, considering the present circumstances around the world. While WIPO has played a crucial role in the resolution of domain name disputes and in the development of practical principles in this area, it is successful and constructive. However more needs to be done by either setting down stringent laws to prosecute squatters or by providing Service Marks and trademark owners with legal redress, since they can defend themselves against accused who misrepresented obtain a domain name.

Finally, it would serve as an essential method for trademark owners to defend their intellectual property online to seek statutory damages to the defendant.

Know more about, if you own a trademark, whether you own the right to its domain or not??, see the video below-

BY-

Ankita Rathi