Full text of the paper:
Collected Papers of the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad
2022, vol. LVI, No. 2, pp. 621-647
Language of the paper: English
Overview paper
udk: 347.772:004]:347.991
doi:10.5937/zrpfns56-38029
Author:
Fahed Wahdani, Ph.D. Student
University of Debrecen
Faculty of Law
fahedw@yandex.com
Abstract:
Though the trademark holder registered his trademark as a domain name, legal scholars and courts did not clarify the legal character of the domain name. To this point, the debate about the nature of domain names was limited to whether the domain name is nonintellectual property or a kind of intellectual property. Even for those who believe that domain names would have intellectual property rights, the essence of this right is still wrapped up in mysteries. More often than not, the court’s decisions were limited to considering the domain name as intellectual property or not until the supreme high court in America decided to register the domain name booking.com as a trademark. This revolutionary decision would change the previous conceptions about the nature of domain names. This paper sheds light on how the supreme court decision would give the momentum to consider a domain name as a trademark, which paves the way as the author believes a domain name can be considered a digital trademark, bearing in mind that the medium, in which the domain names can be active, is the digital space.
Keywords:
domain names, cyberspace, digital trademark, trademark holders, domain names owner.