On 3 August, The Study assesses the practices to prevent and fight “.eu” domain name registrations that are identical or confusingly similar to names benefiting from Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in the EU, including GIs.
oriGIn has been consulted as stakeholder (together with EURid, EUIPO, ECTA, Marques, and WIPO among others) and its inputs have been mentioned in the study, in particular the idea of extending to beneficiaries of GIs recognized in the EU the functionalities available to European Union Trade mark (EUTM) holders in the “.eu” second level domains registrations. Currently, EUTM holders can:
- Easily check if an equivalent “.eu” second level domain is available and eventually register it with the accredited registrars;
- “Opt-in” to receive alerts as soon as a “.eu” second level domain name identical to their EUTM (or to their application) is registered. Through this, EUTM holders can promptly take action against a “.eu” second level domain name registered in bad faith, thereby reducing the risks of cyber-squatting.
For more information on oriGIn activities on GIs in the Internet Domain Names Environment, please check the dedicated page of our website
