The collision of trademarks, domain names, and due process in cyberspace

Reviewer: James Cecil Hammerton

Trademarks" get an "F" for familiarity, mostly because trademarks have been around for sufficiently long that we are accustomed to their meaning. But the nature of a "domain name", for example, is a different idea. `The practice of registering names corresponding to trademarks and then trying to resell them to trademark holders (for a profit) is a natural extension of the trademark idea. The possible trademark extension which is envisioned is the expansion of business for "Joe's Pizza". This is a "trademark" situation in which "Joe's Pizza" may easily provide an outlet in other parts of the country, less immediately known to other parts of the "Joe's Pizza" market The larger view occurs when you consider the use of a product's name. as part of an advertising message which could be incorporated. The initial jump to the larger market area is easy enough. The market implications which are involved in shifting from the well-consolidated "trademark" area can be embraced without much hazard. The extensions of the marketing implications are easy enough to envision. The added extensions which are foisted on the organization in its mode of operation are more difficult. To draw new boundaries which define the different capabilities are more difficult to be clear about. The restrictive nature of the new boundaries are difficult to define at best. The expansion of the legal coverage is considerable and has to be argued with care. There is a well developed extension of the new trademark names which results in a welter of complex capital letters. For example, ICANN - Internet Computer Assignment Name and Number. Or SLD - Second Level Domain; or TLD- Top Level Domain. Or try UDRP, which means Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy. The proliferation of such acronyms is a hazard, but can be mastered. On the other hand the same extension of thinking as appears in Bill Gates' definition of the meaning of the wider implications as in Intelligent Internet.