Alif Muhammad Gultom, S.H., LL.M (Cand), University College Cork, Ireland
ABSTRACT
The Internet domain provides companies opportunities to efficiently establish their advertising strategies and expand their worldwide reach. The domain name acquire immense value and become the identification of a person or organization, given that the first thing a user needs do in order to access a certain online page is to write down the web address. Nonetheless, it introduces new legal issues, particularly in terms of domain name ownership disputes. The unauthorized use of domain name that contains registered trademark is one example of such risk. This could impair the value of a brand and confuse customers. Disputes may also arise between domain name registrants and persons who hold (or claim to hold) unregistered trademarks. This is introduce under common law mark (U.S. doctrine) and a passing-off trademark under the laws of United Kingdom and Ireland. In this paper, the author will conduct an in-depth analysis regarding the unregistered mark threshold under domain name dispute and found the distinction between a common law mark (U.S. doctrine) and a passing-off trademark in accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Besides, this research will present a number of the complainant's unregistered trademarks that were denied by the panel in order to identify the rationale.
Keywords: Common Law, Domain name disputes, Passing-off, Unregistered trademark
