In the age of digitalisation, it seems quite natural
for businesses to benefit from having their own
individual website. A business operator’s website
not only provides cheap advertising for their
activities, but also serves as a source of
information, is a platform for communication with
existing and potential customers, and showcases
the company. It is well-advised to take steps in
advance to protect the company’s Internet domain.
In the first place, a business entrepreneur who
intends to create their own website should
purchase a domain. In order to identify the website
with their business activity, the domain name
should be as closely related to the operator’s
business as possible. Keep in mind that the most
popular key words in your industry are likely to
have already been reserved and the chances of
securing an attractive domain name are almost nil.
In these circumstances, a common solution is to
purchase a domain name that matches the name of
the business. The domain name can be purchased
from an entity dealing with the registration of
domains. However, choosing the unique name of
the business operator does not guarantee that that
domain name has not already been registered by
somebody else. Nevertheless, all is not lost yet, if
the domain you are interested in has been
registered with, for example, the extension .com,
and your business operations are strictly regional in
scope and restricted to a single country. If this is
the case, you can investigate if that domain is
available with other extensions such as .pl, .de,
etc. In order to prevent others from using the domain name with other extensions, consider
registering it also with other extensions such as .eu,
.org, .com, .pl, etc. When registering Internet
domains, keep in mind the rule of “first come, first
served”. This means that the first person to register
a domain may use it. For this reason, if you intend
to register a new company, you should check what
domains are available and, to be on the safe side,
purchase an appropriate domain for your business.
In most cases, the agreement that the business
operator concludes with the domain provider
enables the operator’s exclusive use of the domain
for one year. Do not forget to extend the
agreement towards the end of this term, lest the
domain reverts to being available for purchase by
other entities.
Another way to protect an Internet domain is to
register it with the Patent Office. Taking this
precaution would make it difficult for other entities
to use the domain in bad faith, and should make it
easier for the business operator to assert their
rights in the event of an infringement. The rights
affected by an infringement of the Internet
domain’s individuality can be secured also under,
for example, the Industrial Property Law Act, the
Unfair Competition Act and the general principles
regulated under the Civil Code. It should be noted
that under the first two of these legislative acts,
you can pursue your rights only if both parties (the
infringer and the entity who has its rights infringed
upon) are entrepreneurs. No such restriction is
contemplated in the relevant provisions of the Civil
Code.
MILLER, CANFIELD,
W. BABICKI, A. CHEŁCHOWSKI I WSPÓLNICY SP.K.
ul. Batorego 28-32
81-366 Gdynia
Tel. +48 58 782-0050
Fax +48 58 782-0060
gdynia@pl.millercanfield.com
ul. Nowogrodzka 11
00-513 Warszawa
Tel. +48 22 447-4300
Fax +48 22 447-4301
warszawa@pl.millercanfield.com
ul. Skarbowców 23a
53-125 Wrocław
Tel. +48 71 780-3100
Fax +48 71 780-3101
wroclaw@pl.millercanfield.com
Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared for clients and professional associates of Miller Canfield. It is intended to provide only a summary of
certain recent legal developments of selected areas of law. For this reason the information contained in this publication should not form the basis of
any decision as to a particular course of action; nor should it be relied on as legal advice or regarded as a substitute for detailed advice in individual
cases. The services of a competent professional adviser should be obtained in each instance so that the applicability of the relevant legislation or other
legal development to the particular facts can be verified.