Archive for the ‘Domain Names’ Category
South Africa Patent Laws favour the usage of attorneys Even though it is possible to file a patent application directly without the usage of a patent lawyer or attorney, it cannot be recommended. The reason is simple. The South Africa patent laws favour the usage of an attorney. The South African Patent Office is a non-investigating office. This means that you can complete the application, file it and even receive the patent right upon payment of the required fees without the invention complying with all the requirements. It is not a loophole in the system. It simply means that the responsibility lies with the applicant to ensure that the invention is indeed patentable and that the application will be done correctly. The snag comes in when another applicant or company questions the patentability of the invention down the line or argues that the idea was not original at all. Lawsuits may follow and all the money already spent in the commercial development of the patent may be lost forever. You will need the help of a patent lawyer who knows the South Africa patent laws and will conduct the novelty searches and apply in the correct manner right from the word go.
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A domain name is either transferred or the complaint is denied and the respondent keeps the domain name. It is also possible to seek cancellation of the domain name.
There are no monetary damages applied in UDRP domain name disputes, and no injunctive relief is available. The accredited domain name registrars - which have agreed to abide by the UDRP - implement a decision after a period of ten days, unless the decision is appealed in court in that time. The panel decisions are mandatory in the sense that accredited registrars are bound to takethe necessary steps to enforce a decision, such as transferring the name concerned. However, under the UDRP, either party retains the option to take the dispute to a court of competent jurisdiction for independent resolution. In practice, this is a relatively rare occurrence.
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There is no agreement within the Internet community that would allow organizations that register domain names to pre-screen the filing of potentially problematic names. The reasons vary, ranging from allowing easy registrations to stimulate business, to the practical difficulties involved in determining who holds the rights to a name, to the principle of freedom of expression. Furthermore, the increasing business value of domain names on the Internet has led to more cybersquatting, which results in more disputes and litigation between the cybersquatters and the businesses or individuals whose names have been registered in bad faith. - WIPO
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While designed to serve the function of enabling users to locate computers (and people) in an easy manner, domain names have acquired a further significance as business identifiers and, as such, have come into conflict with the system of business identifiers that existed before the arrival of the Internet and that are protected by intellectual property rights.
Domain name disputes arise largely from the practice of cybersquatting, which involves the pre-emptive registration of trademarks by third parties as domain names. Cybersquatters exploit the first-come, first-served nature of the domain name registration system to register names of trademarks, famous people or businesses with which they have no connection. Since registration of domain names is relatively simple, cybersquatters can register numerous examples of such names as domain names. As the holders of these registrations, cybersquatters often then put the domain names up for auction, or offer them for sale directly to the company or person involved, at prices far beyond the cost of registration. Alternatively, they can keep the registration and use the name of the person or business associated with that domain name to attract business for their own sites. - WIPO
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When thinking of a country such as Canada, you may imagine law abiding citizens who care about the rights of others. Even though true, the USA has put Canada on its watch list for lacking appropriate legislation to protect intellectual property on the Internet. Canada together with countries such as Venezuela, Russia, Pakistan, and China have made it to the intellectual property blacklist of the USA, because they have not taken enough steps to protect the intellectual property rights in the digital world. Canada is also accused of not doing enough to prevent the flow of counterfeit products over its borders. South Africa may take a few hints here as well since counterfeit DVD products seem to be readily available on our streets.
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The Second World Copyright Summit started its first session in Washington USA. Calls for greater cooperation amongst all countries have been made to help crack down on copyright violations. The advent of the Internet has sparked numerous copyright violations; mostly because many internet users think that something that is on the Internet must be free (this is according to Orrin Hatch a member of the US Senate). Calls have been made for stricter action against piracy of music and videos with suggestions that the perpetrator should receive an email warning if downloading music or videos illegally, and then receive a final warning in letter format, after which the user’s internet account must be suspended for up to a year. Internet users can expect stricter regulation in future to help prevent copyright violations which cause severe financial losses for musicians, writers, artists, and producers.
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Fewer trademark registrations are filed worldwide as companies try to cut costs during the economic recession. It is an extremely dangerous method of doing business, especially if exporting manufactured goods. Although it may be a short term solution, doing business without going the route of trademark registrations, can mean huge losses in future. With no grounds for protection you will have nothing to go on when infringements of your brand takes place. Especially now with typo squatting being a reality on the Internet and more and more counterfeit products floating the market, it is indeed dangerous. Economists and lawyers recommend going the slightly more expensive route of trademark registrations even during hard times, to prevent future losses.
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Typo squatting can certainly lead to imprisonment. One man was jailed in 2004 for typo squatting. John Zuccarini served a term of 30 months for registering typo squatting sites leading innocent internet users to children porn sites. According to Zuccarini he made more than a million dollars a year with his typo squatting. The problem of typo squatting is said to become worse in future with the adding of more extensions such as .art, .mus etc. This highlights the security risk for users who may enter their usernames and passwords at typo squatting sites resembling legitimate banks. Once the user has typed the information the typo squatter will immediately know what bank and account to target. He will also have the access details and will be able to withdraw or transfer money while the poor user is still at the typo squatting site trying to make a transaction.
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Studies done in 2008 indicated that thousands of typosquatting websites exist on the Internet. Typosquatting is a form of cybersquatting. A business registers a domain name that resembles a well-known brand, but with one spelling mistake. When a user makes a spelling mistake or a typo error he will then land on the typosquatting website. Unknowingly in many cases the site can be a paid ad or the user can pay money into the account of the typosquatting site for a service, believing he is paying money into the real trademark holder site’s account. There are numerous court cases every year about this type of trademark infringement. Check the web regularly for possible infringements of your trademark and if you suspect typosquatting get in contact with the attorneys of Smit & Van Wyk for advice and assistance in taking action.
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Although the correct procedure for domain disputes is to take the issue to the URDP, many companies such as Tucows have bypassed the URDP and filed domain name lawsuits directly. It should be noted that there are authorities such as URDP and WIPO for handling of domain disputes. It will be cheaper, but if you have a strong case and believe it worth your while to go the long route of domain name lawsuits, it is best to get the help of Intellectual Property Lawyers first.
Domain name lawsuits in the USA have become big business and with the Internet becoming the new war zone between companies, things will surely get uglier in future as companies compete for the rights of domain names. First and foremost make sure that a domain name doesn’t infringe on the trademark of another company before you register it and thus save yourself a lot of trouble and money in the long run.
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