Domain Name Arbitration
After several minutes of pondering and looking at keyword analyzers,
you find the perfect domain name for your new website. You see if it is
available through your desired domain name company. When you find that it
is, you get excited because it seems that it is going to be quite
profitable for your site. So, you sign up for it, thinking that it is up
for grabs, since your domain name company has said it is
available.
Then after a few months you get correspondence from an
attorney saying that your new domain name has violated another company's
trademark. You are now stuck with a potential legal battle that could
cause you to lose your domain name, your reputation and maybe even worse.
Fortunately, with domain name arbitration, there's a chance you can get
out of such a situation and avoid any possible legal
consequences.
What is domain name arbitration? It is a process in
which the complainant and the original holder of the domain name try to
work out a reasonable agreement as to who actually has the rights to the
domain name in question. The arbitration in itself is done through the
Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, (also known as UDRP). This
is a special arbitration method set forth by the ICANN (Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) organization. It is used for
most domain name disputes, because it is cheaper and less time-consuming
than 'traditional' litigation.
In order to initiate a domain name
arbitration proceeding, a webmaster must go through a provider that has
been approved by ICANN to handle such disputes. Once the arbitration
begins, the provider will first determine if the complainant has merit in
their claim. They will do this by evaluating whether the domain name in
question is similar to a trademark or domain name set forth by the
claimant.
They will then determine what rights the claimant has to
the title along with whether or not the domain was chosen accidentally or
with the intention of taking advantage of the claimant's brand popularity.
If it is found the domain name was chosen in bad faith, rights to it will
be granted to the claimant. Otherwise, the original owner will retain
possession of the disputed domain name.
If either party is not
satisfied with a domain name arbitration proceeding, they can challenge
the findings in a regular courtroom. An example of this happened with
Robert De Niro, when he tried to claim the rights to any domain name
containing the phrase 'Tribeca.' He is still in court trying to retain the
rights to Tribeca.net, which has been claimed by another person.
In
conclusion, domain name arbitration is a great alternative to avoiding
taking a domain name dispute into a courtroom, at least initially. There
is the option to go to court if either side feels an arbitration isn't
fair. Yet, for most webmasters, the decisions made by the UDRP panel are
good enough for them, since getting their consul is a lot cheaper than
going to a judge.
Get expert advice about domain names at http://www.articlefog.com/category-domain-names.htm.
Here you can find all information about choosing right domain name,
cybersquatting, making money selling domain names and many more.
Article Source: www.ArticleFog.com.
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