Online Trademark Law Essay

1094 Words5 Pages

Over the last few years, legal scholars have devoted a great deal of attention to how the digital transmission of data over the Internet - the world's largest computer network - has challenged and tested traditional legal concepts and doctrines, especially in the area of intellectual property. The Internet poses unique problems for those trying to protect the goodwill and intangible value encapsulated in a trademark. With the advent of the World Wide Web and increasing access availability, online trading has become very important to the world of commerce and as such the provisions of traditional trademark law have come under duress.
The Irish Trade Marks Act 1996 describes a trade mark as being any graphical representation (words, designs, …show more content…

9 This flurry of activity has quickly transformed the Internet from the "cosy, non-commercial environment"' 0 that characterized its early years to a medium through which commercial vendors can advertise, sell goods and services, distribute software and other products, and offer on-line …show more content…

13 The argument is made that domain names have no trademark significance and that all the controversy over trademarks in domain names is simply misplaced. 14 This argument is no longer heard so frequently in view of the widespread use of domain names by commercial users for marketing purposes. The public at large has come to associate well known trademarks (e.g., IBM, KRAFT, etc.) with domain names and web sites associated with these companies, such as "ibm.com" and "kraft.com" respectively. 15 The overwhelming success of the Internet in attracting users, especially users who are no longer at a level of engineering sophistication that was common among the Internet pioneers, has created a situation that was never foreseen by the architects of the DNS.16 When billboards and advertising panels on busses include the URLs of major national brand advertisers, the argument that domain names have no trademark significance has become irrelevant to the real world.
In light of the present situation, it is clear that the organizations responsible for allocation and registration of domain names must take account of trademarks and trademark