by Traverse Legal, reviewed by Enrico Schaefer - June 29, 2005 - f. "Someone Stole My Domain Name" - Domain Theft & Hijacking
The issue often arises: “Are domain names property?” There is a variety of case law nationally which has attempted to address this issue, and there is no clear consensus. Clearly, domain names are not property in the sense of your computer equipment, in fact, you don’t really own your domain name, but simply rent it in a sense from the registrar.
Fortunately,
nearly all courts have acknowledged that domain names can be an
extension of your intellectual property rights. If Ford Motor Co. owns
the domain name www.ford.com, it can assert rights in that domain as an
extension of its trademark rights in the work “Ford Motor Co.” In
short, in order to have rights in a domain name, you must first have
trademark rights in the name itself. Simply registering a domain,
without using it to identify your products and services in the market,
is simply not enough.
As a founding partner of Traverse Legal, PLC, he has more than thirty years of experience as an attorney for both established companies and emerging start-ups. His extensive experience includes navigating technology law matters and complex litigation throughout the United States.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Enrico Schaefer, who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing Business, IP, and Technology Law litigation attorney.
