Going Dutch...

Who owns, or is entitled to own, a particular .uk domain name defines the work of Nominet’s Dispute Resolution Service.

They recently considered a complaint by Dell relating to ‘dellspares.co.uk’.

Although satisfied that Dell had ‘shown rights in respect of a name or mark which is identical or similar to the domain name’, they were not satisfied that the registration was an ‘abusive registration’.  

In coming to this conclusion, the adjudicator considered that the use of ‘Dell’ was not automatically unfair.  There was no evidence of actual confusion being caused: the target website was not being used to sell any competing products; there was no unfair advantage; nor did it attempt to disrupt Dell’s business.

Accordingly, Dell’s application was refused, with the registration remaining with the Respondent.

This case highlights that not all similar registrations are necessarily an abuse and perhaps imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery...

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