Disputes over eu domains are settled by the Prague Court

Progress in the field of new technologies forces entrepreneurs to actively use the Internet. One of the main marketing activities has become the pursuit of increasing brand recognition on the Internet, and the first step here is to create a corporate website. In December 2005, a very attractive marketing domain (the final letters of the internet address) .eu was created, initially available only to EU bodies, and open to anyone after one year. Who settles disputes over eu domains?

Domain as an asset of the enterprise

Getting an attractive domain can help your business generate income, which is why it can be called an asset of the enterprise. As it happens in life, there are dishonest businessmen who harm by registering a domain that is deceptively similar to that used by another company. Such practice can seriously damage the reputation as well as the identification of the brand and the goods it offers.

In such a situation, you can appeal to the competent national court by bringing an action. An alternative option is to challenge the domain registration to an arbitration court - under the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedure. When it comes to disputes over the eu, .nl and .co domains, there is one more possibility - an appeal to the Arbitration Court at the Czech Chamber of Commerce and the Czech Chamber of Agriculture, which is located in the Czech capital.

The Prague Arbitration Court settles disputes over eu domains

The Arbitration Court conducts Alternative Dispute Resolution proceedings on the basis of the regulations, rules and regulations of the European Commission, which result from Regulation (EC) No. 874/2004. A special online platform has been prepared for this purpose - both the correspondence and the case itself are in electronic form, so there is no need to travel to Prague. Importantly, you don't need to know Czech or spend money on translation. The case may be brought in any official language of the Community - including Polish.

Attention! The Arbitration Court does not support Celtic and Maltese languages. The dispute is resolved by a team of arbitrators selected from among copyright specialists, and the average duration of the proceedings is four months.

Grounds for filing a claim to the Court of Arbitration

If a site has a so-called primary right to a specific domain, then this is a solid prerequisite for initiating an ADR procedure. For example, the company has a trademark directly related to the .eu domain name. Another factor may be the reason for the registration of the domain in dispute - if it is used for speculation or in bad faith.

Domain dispute - how much does a claim to the Court of Arbitration cost?

The lawsuit costs relatively little. The amount of costs depends, inter alia, on the possible change of the language of the proceedings, the number of domains in dispute, as well as the type of the adjudicating panel - one or three.

The Arbitration Court gives you the opportunity to take advantage of the relief - for a lawsuit (regardless of the number of domains) you pay 1000 euros less. For example, for a one-domain lawsuit, considered in a one-man panel, you have to pay 300 euros - instead of 1300. The discount is to last until the end of the year - but remember that SA may modify prices at any time.

The fee must be paid by bank transfer - before filing or responding to the claim, at the time of filing - but not later after receiving the reminder about unpaid receivables.

Settlement of the case before the Court of Arbitration

A positive solution to the case means that the domain-subject of the dispute will be taken from the current owner and given to the aggrieved party. The appeal period followed by surrender is 30 days. There are cases where the injured party is not able to become a subscriber of the domain in question - then the domain name is erased or transferred to the so-called quarantine, from where it is re-circulated after 40 days. In the event of a loss, the party may appeal to the competent court within 30 days from the date of the decision.

Is the ADR procedure profitable?

It seems that the amicable settlement of the dispute over eu domains before SA in the Czech capital is a favorable option - especially due to the low costs and short time of resolving cases. The arbitrators are reputable specialists in intellectual property problems, the verdicts are of a high level and characterized by consistency. This is why it is wise to use the services of the Arbitration Court when disputes over eu domains arise.