In a ruling published on August 29th 2009, Paris’ Tribunal de Grande Instance has clarified the legal framework of domain names registrars.
Five years since the first law framing the liability of technical intermediaries such as Internet Service Providers (based on EC Directive 2000/31/EC) the Court explains that the Registrar’s business is of a “strict technical nature [and performed] following specific requests from customers who bear the sole responsibility of choosing and using the domain name”.
As a result, the Registrar cannot be expected to verify nor uphold IP rights on its own “given that looking for prior rights that may not all be listed or publicly available would require extraordinary means that would impair e-commerce by dramatically increasing the cost of registering domainnames”.
Attacked by no less than thirteen major French companies – which apparently confused the provider’s role with the liability of the domain name holder given that the registrants of the domain names were not even brought in the lawsuit – Internet Registrar EuroDNS SA did prevail and had an opportunity to demonstrate its strong commitment towards third-parties’ Intellectual Property rights as well as its anti-infringement measures which were deemed both “reasonable and adequate” by the Court.
“We understand and share the frustration of brand owners against cybersquatting” commented Jean-Christophe Vignes, Executive Vice-President & General Counsel of EuroDNS “yet the Court’s ruling showed once again that trademark holders’ interests are best served when they work together with Registrars rather than suing them in lieu of the squatters”. Following its long-standing process in cybersquatting matters, EuroDNS has initiated the transfer of the names back to their legitimate owners.
“This decision underlines EuroDNS’ commitment towards brand protection in a country where trademarks and intellectual property rights remain critical” concludes Xavier Buck, EuroDNS CEO “moreover, since it finally clarifies the Registrar’s role and duties, its impact could be far-reaching”
About EuroDNS
EuroDNS is a Global Domain name Registrar specialized in International Domain extensions. Providing dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders through its subsidiary eBrand Services as well as specific tools such as DomainRecovery.com and DomainMonitoring.com, the company is headquartered in Luxembourg with offices around the world.
By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and theInternational Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-Commerce and widen Internet adoption. www.eurodns.com