DOMAIN NAMES AND TRADEMARKS

Doctrine in this area isn't pacific, either. Some consider that the main purpose of a domain name is not to distinguish a company, a product or a service, and that, consequently, the domain name can only be compared to an electronic address. Domain names identify units connected to a computing network, and they do not necessarily offer products or services in their websites.

Others think that domain names do have a distinctive purpose, both within and outside the network, as can be seen in the fact that they are inserted in advertising media (press, TV, etc.). This theory considers the domain name as a distinctive sign in the scope of the Internet, with its own juridical nature, different from trademarks.

Therefore, we can state that, although domain names were not created with the aim of distinguishing products and services in the Internet, most of the registered domains are used with this purpose.

The principle which rules the allocation of a domain name is "first come, first served", which means that, in most cases there are no requirements to obtain a name, which has caused many conflicts between trademark holders and domain holders. In some cases, individuals deliberately register famous trademarks in order to sell the name to the holder of the trademark for a specific amount. This is known as Cybersquatting.