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ARTICLE · 13 DECEMBER 1999

Protecting Your Registered Trade Mark Against Unauthorised Use As A Domain Name

Freehill Hollingdale & Page
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trade mark

AustraliaIntellectual Property

The US$3.3 million dollar sale of the domain name "wine.com" in San Francisco earlier this year is believed to be the highest price paid for a domain name to date. Domain names have become increasingly valuable as demand has risen with the exponential growth in commerce on the Internet. Not surprisingly, this environment has given rise to many disputes between trade mark owners and domain name holders.

This article surveys the types of disputes that have arisen and the key issues to be addressed in order to establish trade mark infringement by an unauthorised use of domain names under the Trade Marks Act 1995 ("the Act") in Australia.

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