e-TRADE MARKS

Nice .biz-ness if you can get it

The new top level domain .biz is scheduled to come into operation shortly. This is to supplement the existing .com, .net and .org systems, although administration of the .biz domain name register will be the responsibility of a company called NeuLevel. .biz domains are meant to be restricted to use by parties for "bona fide business or commercial" purposes only. This is defined as involving the exchange of goods, services or property of any kind in the ordinary course of trade or business. It does not cover private, non-commercial use and is said specifically to exclude activities such as cybersquatting. No checks will be made to verify a registrant's proposed or actual compliance with these use requirements. However, there will be a procedure by which third parties can bring a complaint against a registrant for improper use.

As for the existing .com, .net and .org domains, .biz registrations will normally be granted on a first-come-first-served basis. For the initial start-up, however, where it has been possible to file applications in advance, if there is more than one applicant for a particular name, one of these will be selected at random.

The normal forum for raising objections as regards ownership of .biz registrations will be ICANN's existing Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP - discussed in the Autumn 2000 edition of Make Your Mark). For the initial start-up, however, there will be an additional procedure, the so-called Start-up Trademark Opposition Policy (STOP). The STOP procedure is only available to those who have submitted prior claims to IP rights in a name. To challenge an applicant successfully, an IP claimant will have to show that he has legitimate rights to the name in question, whereas the applicant does not, and that the applicant's registration of the name is in bad faith. According to the STOP procedure, if two or more parties have submitted claims to the same name, one of these parties will be selected at random to make a challenge. If the applicant is able successfully to make out a case, he will keep the registration. If he fails, and the challenger successfully makes out a case, then the challenger will take the registration. The procedure will in either case go no further.

There is no precise indication as to how disputes between legitimate IP claimants and applicants will be settled. How, for example, do you choose between the owner of a UK registration of a mark and the owner of a US registration for the same mark? With over 2 million applications having already been filed, it seems likely that there will be many conflicts to resolve. Whilst the new .biz system is intended to ease the burden on .com registrations, it seems likely that many .com registrants will also have applied to include a .biz registration in their portfolio. It therefore seems likely that many of the old conflicts will be re-enacted and that many companies who failed to secure a .com registration might find themselves missing out again.

Other domain names that ICANN are planning to introduce include .info, which will be open to anyone for any kind of use, .name for personal names, .pro for professionals, .aero for the aeronautical industry, .museum for museums and .coop for cooperative businesses.