Domain Name Law - Is It Possible For Someone to Steal My Domain Name?

 THEFT OR STEALING APPLIES ONLY TO PROPERTY


The first thing to understand is that most people including business talk about 'owning' a registered name as if it is legal property. However domain name law doesn't ascribe the status of property to a registered name. The legal character of a name is a renewable form of permission or licence to use the name for a specified period of time under a Registration Agreement. By contrast, by law, property is something which can be owned, mortgaged, assigned, or bequeathed under a Will. Therefore a Domain Name cannot be legally stolen.

Only one Court has ever characterised a domain name as property. A registered name is like a telephone number or car registration plates. You have the right or permission to use them which you acquire from a licensing body, but they never really belong to you or are legally owned by you. Neither can you own a business name or a company name, as they don't have the legal status of property, although if your business name, company name or personal name has been used as a trademark in trade or commerce and has acquired a reputation in the market for goods or services, it may have acquired what is known as common law trademark status. If you have any concerns pertaining to in which and how to use four letter company names, you can get in touch with us at our web site.

There have been cases where a Domain Name holder has accused a Domain Name Registrar of being negligent and allowing their Domain Name to be fraudulently registered or stolen by a party who has submitted false papers to the Registrar. This occurred in the sex.com case in 1995, however this situation is not the focus of this article which discusses whether or not a person claiming they have Trademark rights in your Domain Name can take your name away from you.

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