The Domain Names of companies have now achieved a whole new level. Now the domain names just don’t merely represent the companies on the internet. In this age of modernization and seasoned information technology and holding businesses through World Wide Web, the domain names are bringing their A-games forward of being promoters and business identifiers. Since the sales and profit making businesses are increasing exponentially on a daily basis, the utility and importance of domain names are to be augmented for a objective of popularity, publicity and benefit of businesses in all monetary sectors. The objectives of domain name are now scaling up to the function of trademarks and needs to be protected for the safety of your business. When you register a domain name, no one else can use it but that doesn’t mean that it is registered as a trademark with the government. You also need to search for a unique trademark which is not registered with the IP India.
Firstly, you have to think and decide if you want to market products through your website or you just want it to be an informative website. Websites like EXPEDIA.COM is protected and registered as a very strong trademark as the owner caters and provides the services through the website. If you are planning to register a company and promote your website on all channels of marketing, then you must secure your domain name by registering it as a trademark, failing to do so can prove fatal. ‘Amazonnetworks.com’ was sued by Amazon as they didn’t trademark their domain and at that time Amazon was only selling books. ‘Amazonnetworks’ was computer services and didn’t care to trademark their domain name. After 10 years, Amazon sued ‘Amazonnetworks’ and they had to sell the company for a fraction for what it was worth as they could not afford to fight the lawsuit. You have to go through comprehensive trademark search before deciding the mark for your organization. The preliminary trademark search will prove beneficial in the safeguard of your organization.
After deciding the term which qualifies as a domain name, the key prerequisite is to sell products and goods online and not merely an “informational website”. Any term which is capable of distinguishing goods from any other competitive website and is a source identifier of different services present online can be trademarked. If you cater the services online, the permission of trademark will be granted. Like, registering courses and classes is a service and you can easily trademark your domain name.
Protection of domain names in India
When we are talking about protecting domain names, the judgment of Honorable Supreme court of India is worth mentioning. In the Case of Satyam Infoway Ltd. Vs Sifynet solutions Pvt. Ltd., the matter for discussion before the court was if the Domain Names are being recognized as Intellectual property like trademarks.—“The objective of a domain name was to provide an address for a website but due to the increase of the monetary activity on the internet, a domain name is being used as an identification of businesses”.
The safeguard of domain names in the country has been deeply recognized by the lawmakers and judiciary.
