Domain law
Is your trademark being infringed by a domain? Would you like to buy or sell a domain?
Attorney Robert Meyen has extensive experience and expertise in the field of domain law. He can effectively act as a competent legal advisor in domain law disputes and actively support clients. His specialist knowledge enables him to develop strategic approaches, for example to resolve domain disputes in connection with Trademark infringements or unfair competition to cope with.
With a sound understanding of the legal aspects of domain law, Attorney Meyen can help clients protect and enforce their interests. His services range from evaluating the legal situation to drafting legally sound pleadings and representing clients in court to achieve the best possible results for his clients. Through close cooperation and tailor-made solutions, attorney Robert Meyen helps to successfully overcome the challenges of domain law.
Robert Meyen
Lawyer
Specialist lawyer for intellectual property rights
brands media meyen
Breite Straße 22
41460 Neuss
Lawyer for domain law
Domain disputes, typosquatting, cybersquatting
A Lawyer for domain law is your partner in protecting your interests in connection with Internet domains. Its core competencies include advice and support in the legally compliant registration and administration of domains. In the event of any conflicts, in particular in cases of Trademark infringements or domain disputes, the lawyer acts as an experienced advisor and can act proactively to defend his client's rights.
We offer a thorough analysis of the legal situation, for example with regard to Brand protection and Competition lawand develop strategies to avoid or overcome legal disputes.
We also support you with the Enforcement of trademark rights and unauthorized domain abuse, including Typosquatting or Cybersquatting.
Attorney Robert Meyen acts as a trustworthy partner who not only provides legal expertise, but also develops individual solutions for your specific concerns in the area of domain law.
Robert Meyen
Lawyer
Specialist lawyer for intellectual property rights
brands media meyen
Breite Straße 22
41460 Neuss
Domain law, trademark protection and name protection
As a law firm specializing in domain law, we play a crucial role in handling domain disputes.
Trademark rights or the right to a name are often infringed by the registration or use of domains.
If a third party uses your trademark in a domain, this may constitute trademark infringement. For example, German courts have found the use of the domain schufa-anwalt.de to be an infringement of the trademark "Schufa" and the use of the domain keine-vorwerk-vertretung.de to be an infringement of the trademark "Vorwerk".
The name of private individuals or companies is also protected under Section 12 of the German Civil Code (BGB) or as a company trademark. The BGH considered the registration of the domain shell.de to be an infringement of the right to a name.
The right to a name is infringed if a name is used without authorization and the use can lead to confusion.
A special form of name infringement or trademark infringement is the Cybersquatting. An unauthorized person registers a domain with a third-party name right (Namejacking) or trademark law (Brandjacking) in the hope of blackmailing the rights holder.
Typosquatting is a special form of cybersquatting in which Typo domains can be used. Typosquatter aims to profit from accidental mistakes made by Internet users searching for a specific company or a well-known personality.
What are the legal bases of domain law? Is there a domain law?
Although domains now play a major role in competition and domain disputes are frequent, there are still no domain names in Germany or Europe no domain law.
Legal disputes in domain law are therefore mostly based on the Trademark lawthe Competition law or general civil law, in particular the law on names.
Warning in domain law
If the owner of a trademark or name right feels that his rights have been infringed, he usually files a Warning from. In the warning letter, the rights holder asserts claims against the unlawful use of the domain.
The trademark owner usually demands that the infringement be ceased for the future by Submission of a cease-and-desist declaration with penalty clause.
If you are accused of infringing third-party rights by registering or using a domain, it is often advisable to submit a modified cease-and-desist declarationwhich eliminates the infringement of the right and the Risk of repetition but promises the trademark owner less than he would like to receive.
Claims for deletion of a domain are rarely successfully enforceable: they only exist if there is not a single conceivable form of legal use of the domain.
Claims to Transfer of the domain do not exist under normal circumstances. In the case of German domains, a dispute entry must therefore be filed with DENIC.
The dispute entry prevents the infringer from simply giving up the domain and it subsequently being registered by another, unauthorized third party.
The Costs of warning letters in domain disputes are based on the value in dispute. For disputes concerning the right to a name, this value is at least €10,000; the value of a trademark dispute starts at €50,000 and can be up to €500,000 for particularly well-known trademarks.
This results in costs of around €1,000 to €5,500. In the case of a justified warning the infringer must reimburse the costs of the warning.
The UDRP procedure of ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (short: ICANN) coordinates the allocation of unique names and addresses on the Internet. ICANN manages a number of top-level domains in addition to the German .de domains. The best-known ICANN domains include .biz, .com, .info, .name, .net and .org.
The arbitration procedure according to the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP procedure) is an arbitration procedure developed by ICANN to resolve domain disputes.
The UDRP procedure can be carried out at four ICANN-accredited organizations:
- the Arbitration Board of WIPO
- the National Arbitration Forum
- the ADNDRC (Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center)
- the Czech Arbitration Court Arbitration Center for Internet Disputes.
In UDRP proceedings, the applicant must demonstrate that there is a likelihood of confusion between the domain name and its trademark, that the defendant has no rights of its own to the trademark and that the application or registration was made in bad faith. If he succeeds in doing so, the domain is transferred to the applicant.
The UDRP procedure is expensive. Including legal fees and the costs of the arbitration board, it can quickly add up to between €10,000 and €15,000. There is usually no reimbursement of costs.