The legal status of a domain name in the Russian civil law

Abstract

The legal status of a domain name in Russian legislation is not precisely defined, because a domain name is not included in the established list of intellectual property objects, however, it can act as one of the constituent elements of a trademark. Domain name fulfills the main economic function, which is to simplify the search for goods on the information and communication network “Internet”. In this sense, the domain acts as one of the means of addressing, thereby helping to quickly find certain goods by means of the company name of the company, which is the holder of the trademark. Analyzing the existing practice of resolving disputes that arise in the process of using a domain name, we can conclude that there are two established positions regarding the definition of the legal status of the domain. First, the domain can be considered as a means of addressing, in this case, the right holder to realize the protection of its own interests must prove the originality of the goods sold by the fi rm name. Secondly, the domain name can be presented as a constituent element of a trademark, but as in this case there is some uncertainty concerning the legal status of this object of civil legal relations.