p. 35914. Branding, trademarks, and domain names
- Andrew MurrayAndrew MurrayProfessor of Law, London School of Economics and Political Science
Abstract
This chapter examines the role of trademarks in the creation of brand portfolios online, including internet addresses or domain names. It first provides an overview of branding and trademarks in the global business environment, trademark characteristics, and the distinction between registered and unregistered trademarks, and then looks at domain names as address tools and brand identifiers. The chapter also considers early disputes over rightful ownership of trademarks and domain names, examining the development of cybersquatting case law before the UK and US courts. It discusses the allocation of new generic top-level domains under the New gTLD procedure and examines the legal safeguards for trademark holders under the procedure. The primary focus of the chapter is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and its domestic counterpart in the UK, the Nominet Dispute Resolution Service.
