Abstract

E-commerce and online trading are now a component of the modern economy. In addition to the value of trademarks and their function in contemporary business, it’s essential to keep in mind that the internet is the dominant force in this millennium. Every human action is governed by the internet, and business is probably one of the areas where it will have the biggest impact. When the internet first entered the scene, nobody was aware of the commercial prospects it offered. However, economic prospects emerged as a result of the slow growth of numerous internet tools including the World Wide Web (www), e-mails, etc. Companies are now using domain names to help others find them online as they trade and advertise their products there. The need of the hour for every commercial firm is to have a presence on the internet through a website in order to be successful. Websites need an address to be found, hence domain names were created for this purpose. Thus, domain names, a new idea in connection to trademarks in cyberspace, have emerged. In the same way that trademarks function in physical space, domain names function in cyberspace. The courts throughout the globe have given no less protection to Domain name than trademarks, however, the trademark law that was evolved and established to suit the needs of physical environment, having geographical boundaries, is ill suited for disputes involving domain names in a borderless cyberspace. The trademarks law allows one trademark to be used by two different traders on the same goods provided channels of market are separated by physical boundaries. Since political boundaries have vanished in cyber space, the trademark law finds it difficult to accommodate, “one mark two owners” possibility. Not only this alone many new issues related to trademark law have cropped up which await judicial resolutions. This research is conducted with the objective of analyzing the interplay of trademarks and domain names . For achieving the objective the study is divided in three parts. Firstly domain name, its role in cyberspace and its various categories have been discussed. In the second part of the article the impact of trademark law on cyberspace has been highlighted and finally in the third part an endeavor is made to analyse the applicability of trademark law to cyber space and role of judiciary .

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