Help, someone has registered my brand name as a domain name! What now?
Help, someone has registered my brand name as a domain name! What now?
You have your business plan ready, your brand name is secured, but when you try to register the domain name, you get the message: Taken. Or even worse: you discover that a competitor or a fortune seeker has hijacked your brand name.
Don't panic. Although it is a tricky situation, as a brand owner you are certainly not powerless. In this blog, we explain what steps you can take to reclaim your digital identity.
1. Check the intent: Is it done in good faith?
Not everyone who registers your brand name does so with malicious intent. Sometimes someone happened to choose the same name for a completely different sector.
Different sector? If "Bakkerij Janssens" holds the domain name and you are "Janssens IT", there is often little you can do legally, unless your brand is world-famous.
Offered for sale? Do you see a landing page with "This domain is for sale"? Then you are often dealing with a domain hijacker. 2. Make contact (The amicable settlement)
Sometimes the fastest and cheapest way is simply to contact the current holder. You can often find out who the owner is via a WHOIS check. Offer reasonable compensation for the transfer costs. This saves you expensive legal proceedings.
3. The legal route: Trademark law vs. Domain name
Have you officially registered your trademark with the BOIP (Benelux Office for Intellectual Property)? Then you are in a very strong position. In Belgium and the Netherlands, you can start an arbitration procedure (for example, via DNS Belgium for .be domains).
You must prove three things:
The domain name is identical to or confusingly similar to your trademark.
The holder has no legitimate interest in the name.
The domain name was registered in bad faith or is being used as such.
4. Consider alternatives
Sometimes the battle is not worth the energy. Is merknaam.be taken? Then look at:
Other extensions: .agency, .shop, or the classic .com.
Additions: get-brandname.be or brandname-office.be.
New branding: Perhaps this is the moment for a small rebranding that is actually digitally available?
How do you prevent this in the future?
The best defense is a good offense.
Register immediately: As soon as you come up with a name, register the .be, .nl, and .com.
Trademark registration: Officially register your brand name. Without trademark registration, it is legally much more difficult to reclaim a domain.
