Dispute Resolution Mechanisms and Trademark Cybersquatting In ccTLD, Old Style gTLD and New Style gTLD Systems COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE US, EU AND INTERNATIONAL APPROACHES By Waddah Al-rawashdedh University of Szeged Faculty of Law and Political Sciences Graduate School Hungary 2017 Spring Dispute Resolution Mechanisms & Trademark Cybersquatting Table of Contents Page DEDICATION ............................................................................................ 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................... 9 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................... 10 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................ 12 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 1 DOMAIN NAMES AND TRADEMARKS ................................................ 22 1.1. Overview ....................................................................................... 22 1.2. Meaning of Domain Names and Domain Name System (DNS) ............................................................................................. 22 1.3. The Need and Importance of Domain Names ........................... 25 1.4. Types of Domain Names ............................................................. 26 1.4.1. “Country-code” TLDs ............................................................................... 26 1.4.2. “generic” TLDs ......................................................................................... 27 1.5. Who Runs gTLDs and ccTLDs? ................................................ 30 1.6. What are New gTLDs? ................................................................ 34 1.7. The Contractual Nature of Domain Name Registration Processes ...................................................................................... 37 1.7.1. The Contractual Relationship under ICANN’s Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) ..................................................................................... 39 1.7.2. The Contractual Relationship between the Registrar and the Registrant under the Umbrella of Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) .......... 42 1.8. The Correlation between Trademarks and Domain Names .. 44 1.9. Comparing Distinctions and Similarities between Trademarks and Domain Names ............................................... 47 2 Dispute Resolution Mechanisms & Trademark Cybersquatting CHAPTER 2 CYBERSQUATTING AS A GLOBAL PROBLEM AND ICANN AS A GLOBAL SOLUTION ........................................................................... 52 2.1. Overview ..................................................................................... 52 2.2. Basic Understanding of Cybersquatting ................................... 54 2.2.1. Registering a Domain Name Completely Identical with a Registered Trademark (Domain Name Piracy) (Cybersquatting) ............................... 57 2.2.2. Registering a Domain Name Largely Similar to a Registered Trademark (Typosquatting) ......................................................................................... 58 2.2.3. Registering a Trademark as a Domain Name to Express the Dissatisfaction with a Product or Service Provided by a Certain Corporation (Cybersmearing) (Derogatory Domain Names) ................... 60 2.2.4. The Attempt to Deprive a Properly Registered Domain Name Holder from the Domain Name that he Registered (Reverse Domain Name Hijacking) ................................................................................................. 63 2.2.5. Inadvertent Failing to Renew Registration of Domain Name .................. 64 2.2.6. Registering a Trademark of a Competitor as a Domain Name (Competing Use) or Registering a Trademark of Non-Competitor as a Domain Name (Non-Competing Use) ...................................................... 66 2.3. ICANN’s UDRP as a Model for Trademark Cybersquatting Disputes Settlement ..................................................................... 67 2.3.1. The Dispute Resolution Mechanism for Cybersquatting under ICANN’s UDRP ........................................................... 69 2.3.1.1. Identical or Confusingly Similar ................................................... 71 2.3.1.2. Rights or Legitimate Interests ....................................................... 73 3 Dispute Resolution Mechanisms & Trademark Cybersquatting 2.3.1.3. Bad Faith Registration and Use .................................................... 76 2.3.2. Remedies of ICANN’s UDRP ................................................ 78 2.3.3. ICANN’s WHOIS Service .................................................... 79 2.3.4. Jurisdiction of ICANN’s UDRP…………………………… 82 2.3.5. Pros and Cons of ICANN’s UDRP ...................................... 86 2.3.5.1. Pros of ICANN’s UDRP ............................................................... 86 2.3.5.2. Cons of ICANN’s UDRP .............................................................. 88 2.4. Cybersquatting and ICANN’s New gTLD ................................ 89 2.4.1. New Pre- and Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedures under ICANN ..................................................... 89 2.4.1.1. Pre-Delegation Dispute Resolution Cybersquatting under ICANN’s DRSP ............................................................................ 90 2.4.1.2. Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure under ICANN’s PDDRP .......................................................................................... 96 2.4.2. Extra Protection Mechanisms in the New gTLD Space .... 101 2.4.2.1. ICANN’s URS as an Extra Protection Mechanisms in the New gTLD Space .................................................................................. 101 2.4.2.2. ICANN’s Trademark Clearinghouse Model ................................. 105 4 Dispute Resolution Mechanisms & Trademark Cybersquatting CHAPTER 3 CYBERSQUATTING UNDER US AND EU APPROACHES .............. 108 3.1. Overview ....................................................................................... 108 3.2. Cybersquatting in the United States ......................................... 110 3.2.1. Roots and Development of the Legal Framework of Anti- cybersquatting statute in USA ............................................................... 111 3.2.2. U.S. Courts Treated Domain Names before 2014 as Property and in 2014 ICANN told U.S. Courts that ccTLDs are not Property ........ 113 3.2.3. The Mechanism of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) .............................................................................................. 116 3.2.3.1. “Identity or Confusing Similarity” Standard ................................ 117 3.2.3.2. The “Bad Faith” Requirement ...................................................... 119 3.2.3.3. The Defense in Cybersquatting Claim .......................................... 121 3.2.3.4. Remedies under the ACPA ........................................................... 123 3.2.3.5. In Rem Jurisdiction and the ACPA ............................................... 125 3.2.4. Registrar's Liability and the ACPA ..................................... 128 3.2.5. National Registration of Domain Names under ccTLD (.us) .............................................................................. 130 3.2.5.1. usTLD Nexus Dispute Policy (usNDP) ........................................ 131 3.2.5.2. usTLD Dispute Resolution Policy (usDRP) ................................. 132 5 Dispute Resolution Mechanisms & Trademark Cybersquatting 3.3. Cybersquatting in the European Union ................................. 135 3.3.1. Overview of Anticybersquatting Claims in EU Member States ....................................................................................... 136 3.3.1.1. Austria .............................................................................. 137 3.3.1.1.1. Anticybersquatting Claims under Austrian Trade Mark Act ........... 137 3.3.1.1.2. Anticybersquatting Claims under Austrian Unfair Amendment Competition Act .............................................................................. 138 3.3.1.1.3. National Registration of Domain Names under ccTLD (.at) ............ 140 3.3.1.2. Hungary ............................................................................ 141 3.3.1.2.1. Anticybersquatting Claims under Hungarian Act on Trademarks .... 142 3.3.1.2.2. Anticybersquatting Claims under Hungarian Unfair Market Practices Act ...................................................................................... 144 3.3.1.2.3. Anticybersquatting Crime under Hungarian Criminal Code ............. 146 3.3.1.2.4. National Registration of Domain Names under ccTLD (.hu) ............ 147 3.3.1.3. France ................................................................................ 149 3.3.1.3.1. Anticybersquatting Claims under French Intellectual Property Code.150 3.3.1.3.2. Anticybersquatting Claims under French Civil Code ........................ 154 3.3.1.3.3. National Registration of Domain Names under ccTLD (.fr) ............. 156 3.3.1.4. Germany ............................................................................ 159 3.3.1.4.1. Anticybersquatting Claim under German Trademark Law ............... 160 3.3.1.4.2. Anticybersquatting Claim under German Unfair Competition Law . 162 3.3.1.4.3. National Registration of Domain Names under ccTLD (.de) ........... 164 3.3.1.5. United Kingdom