Cyber Squatting and Domain Name Retention

Business owners and traders often fall victim to Cyber Squatting when another party sits on a similar domain name with the intention of exploiting the business owner. We look at the issues surrounding Cyber Squatting and Domain Name Retention. Cyber Squatting occurs when a person or company registers a domain name which is similar to the domain…

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Protection of your Intellectual Property (IP)

  Understanding your IP assets is an essential part of business planning. As your business grows, it is important that you identify and keep an inventory of your IP assets. This is called an IP audit and it will help when it comes to seeking protection for your intellectual property. Identify your IP assets The…

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Is someone improperly using your domain name?

Take home points Domain names and website addresses represent valuable electronic real estate for a business’ presence and brand. Traditionally, parties seeking to prevent unauthorised use of a domain name by a third party could: lodge an action with the ICANN or through auDA (the regulatory body for .au domain names); negotiate a settlement with…

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Inherently adapted to distinguish – using foreign words as trade marks

Take home points 1. Trade marks used to distinguish goods and services for businesses. A trade mark must be “inherently adapted” to the goods/services in which they are being sought (e.g. not merely descriptive) in order to be registered and protected. 2. The correct test to assess the inherent adaptability of a proposed mark is…

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