Each domain name - or Internet address - is unique. No two parties can have the same domain name, so a domain name is the core of an organisation's Internet identity - its online brand. Customers and potential customers will remember the domain name and use it to browse through products and services. A distinctive domain name can mean more hits on a company website, more return visitors, fewer bounced emails and the chance to make a lasting impression on the Web. Businesses may also want to register company and brand names as domain names to prevent other parties from doing so.

Domain names are used to identify and locate computers and other devices on the Internet. Computers themselves identify each other with strings of numbers called IP (Internet Protocol) Addresses-for example 192.168.200.12. For any particular computer on the Internet, a designated computer called a Domain Name Server (DNS), typically maintained by an Internet Service Provider, translates that computer's domain name into its equivalent IP address, and vice versa. For instance, by typing www.ipaustralia.gov.au into a web-browser, the request is converted into the equivalent IP address (202.14.186.176) and the information found at that address (the IPAustralia website's main page) gets delivered back to the browser and is displayed.

Many Internet Service Providers provide customers with web space, so an organisation may not need a domain name to have its own website. However, the Internet address a business receives is generally not of its choosing, and is unlikely to reflect the company name, be easy to remember, or represent the business.

Although you may not yet have a website, it is still important to register a domain name as thousands are registered on a daily basis. Registering a domain name ensures the reservation of that domain name, which may not otherwise be available when it is wanted. Once registered, that domain name is yours as long as its registration is renewed (generally annually or bi-annually).

How Griffith Hack Can Help

Griffith Hack maintains the domain name portfolios of some of Australia's largest companies, and we offer a comprehensive range of domain services, including availability searches, registration, renewal, watching services and dispute resolution. Portfolio management is particularly valuable for companies that have many brands throughout the world and wish to have them protected in numerous domains.

Griffith Hack Domain Name Services

Searching and Watching

Is a desired domain name available? Where exactly is it available? Griffith Hack can determine the availability of a desired domain name worldwide. For example, the international domain name "x.com" may be also available in Australia (as "x.com.au"), in the UK (as "x.co.uk"), and in Canada (as "x.ca").

If a required domain name is currently unavailable, Griffith Hack offers a watching service to alert clients to changes in the status of the name. If it becomes available, Griffith Hack contacts clients immediately, maximising the chance to secure registration.

Registering Domain Names

Griffith Hack can register domain names on behalf of our clients in almost any domain, whether international, such as .com, .net, .biz, .info and .name, or in individual countries, such as Germany (.de), Switzerland (.ch), Hong Kong (.com.hk).

To register a domain name, we require the following details*:

• The requested domain name
• Name of company or individual
• Company or individual address
• Name of a contact (only for companies)
• Telephone/facsimile details
• Email address
• Domain Name Server details**

* Additional information may be required depending on in which domain a domain name will be registered.
** The Domain Name Server's details are the name and IP addresses of the two servers that translate a domain name into the IP address of a website, if the domain name is to be activated and not merely reserved. These can usually be obtained from an Internet Service Provider. In most cases, domain names can be registered without the server details being provided; we can then secure a domain name and attend to this "delegation" process later.

Australian Domain Names

Since changes were made to the Australian Domain Name space in mid 2002, potential registrants now have greater choices in that an applicant may apply for multiple domain names based on a single legal entity. Furthermore, the connection between the legal entity name and the domain name can now also include a “close and substantial” connection, as opposed to the previous rule that required the name to be a direct derivative of the legal entity name. Moreover, it has become easier for foreign entities to participate in the Australian domain name space by a provision that allows foreign entities to register domain names in the .com.au domain name space based on an Australian trade mark application or registration. The main second level domains in the .au domain name space are .com.au (for businesses), .net.au (originally intended for technical companies), .org.au (for organisations), .asn.au (for associations) and .id.au (for Australian citizens or residents).

Renewals

To maintain registration of a domain name, renewal fees must be paid on time. Failure to renew could mean losing the domain name to another party who has noticed the lapse. In some cases, domain names must be renewed annually. In other cases, renewal periods may last 10 years. It is therefore important to have an efficient system to keep track of domain name renewal dates. Griffith Hack advises clients of or attends to renewals in sufficient time to protect their domain names.

Domain Name Disputes

An organisation may be entitled to a domain name that another party may have already registered. Griffith Hack has an excellent track record in successfully disputing domain name registrations for our clients, including conducting Domain Name Dispute Resolution cases before the World Intellectual Property Office in Geneva. All registrars in the .biz, .com, .info, .name, .net and .org top-level domains follow the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (often referred to as the "UDRP"). Under the policy, most types of trade mark-based domain name disputes must be resolved by agreement, court action or arbitration before a registrar will cancel, suspend or transfer a domain name. Disputes arising from alleged abusive registrations of domain names (so-called "cybersquatting") may be addressed by expedited administrative proceedings that the holder of trade mark rights initiates by filing a complaint with an approved dispute-resolution service provider.

On 1 August 2002 the .au Dispute Resolution Policy (auDRP) was introduced in Australia. The auDRP is based on the UDRP. The auDRP is designed for disputes that arise in the Australian domain name space, for example .com.au. The auDRP differs from the UDRP in that it takes account of the differences in allocation procedures for domain names in the Australian domain name space. In addition, it seeks to improve on some disadvantageous aspects that have become apparent under the UDRP.

Before the introduction of the auDRP, .au domain name registrations could only be challenged before the Australian courts. The high cost of litigation combined with the considerable time involved before obtaining results may have served as a deterrent to potential complainants. The auDRP provides for a more cost and time effective alternative to litigation. With our considerable experience in domain name law, Griffith Hack is well placed to assist in any auDRP proceedings that you wish to initiate or defend.

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