Internet or domain law is actually not a separate area of law. The trademark law or the naming right according to the German Civil Code (BGB) applies here as well. If the content of the domain is in dispute, copyright or competition law usually apply. The Telemedia Act (TMG) also plays an important role with regard to provider identification or imprint obligations.
In addition to the usual claims – which must be asserted in court – for an injunction against the use or release of domains, special legal tools such as the “dispute” application have been developed. With this application, which is free of charge, a .de-domain can be blocked in favour of the applicant. If the domain is surrendered after a lawyer’s warning letter or in the context of the execution of a legally binding judgement, it automatically falls to the applicant.
In an international context, you can conduct arbitration proceedings for generic domains such as .com, .info, .org or .eu, but also for some national domains. This possibility was introduced in order to obtain a domain simply and inexpensively in the event of trademark infringement or malicious intent when registering a domain.
Arbitration is much faster and cheaper than litigation abroad. If successful, the domain is transferred to the applicant within about 90 days. If someone infringes the rights, claims can be asserted via the permanent network of foreign lawyers in almost every country of the world. Such proceedings must be carried out by e-filing. We have already successfully conducted such proceedings for our clients at the WIPO in Geneva and the Czech Arbitration Court.
In addition, we also advise you comprehensively on all other questions of Internet law.
