Trademarks and Domain Names Conflicts in Nigeria: How Can Corporate Entities Win This Fight?

U.B. Okpa¹ , A.M. Amadi² , E.L. Ndubueze³

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.7 , Issue.6 , pp.66-77, Jun-2021

Online published on Jun 30, 2021

Copyright © U.B. Okpa, A.M. Amadi, E.L. Ndubueze . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
The rise of the internet over the past two decades has seen to the establishment and escalating growth of businesses online, and this growth has occasioned an increase in cybersquatting activities, a practice which is hinged on the illegitimate interest in the domain name right of an established trademark or trade name belonging to another. To ensure that registered trademarks, brands and trade names are accorded protection as intellectual property rights in the cyberspace, cybersquatting is declared unlawful in the international clime as well as in Nigeria. And to ensure compliance with the extant anti-cybersquatting regulations as well as compensation for victims of cybersquatting (corporate entities), arbitration mechanisms were set up using the UDRP and NDRP Rules of WIPO and NIRA as mainstream. In Nigeria, the other remedial mechanisms for corporate entities who are victims of cybersquatting are found in the Cybercrimes Act and a throw at passing off. As a synopsis, this work conceptualises trademark and domain name, analyses the nature and resolution of conflict between them in the wake of administrative and judicial mechanisms, marks the challenges of anti-cybersquatting enforcement in and outside Nigeria, then furnishes strong recommendations for the trademark and domain name governing regime in ensuring stronger protection for corporate entities seeking profitable online presence.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Trademark, Domain name, Cybersquatting, Trade name, Internet.

References :
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