How to protect a domain?

If you came up with an Internet project and registered a domain in the .ru zone, and the name does not match any existing domains, you still need to think about how to protect it, since there are many cases described when a court decision took away the domain in favor of some company with a name similar to the domain. In this case, the basis for such a decision was the earlier registration of this company than the domain.

In addition, the site owner may violate someone's rights to a previously registered trademark without knowing it, which means the domain may also be cancelled.

The threat of losing a domain also arises if a promoted site and, accordingly, their domain may be interested in persons professionally involved in registering trademarks for their subsequent resale, especially if there is a court decision for violating the rights to a registered trademark.

The reason for the loss of a domain can also be the departure of an employee from the company along with the domain name, if it was previously registered to this employee.

Therefore, it is important to know and understand what steps need to be taken to protect the domain and avoid legal conflicts.

The simplest actions at the first stage include:

- regular domain renewal and application of “domain privacy” settings;

- checking the contact information of the domain name registrar and using the “registrar lock”;

- care about the security of your account;

- Using the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP), which provides legal security for a domain name if supported by the registrar, allowing you to select a unique authorization code (AIC) for each domain that must be provided to the new registrar before your domain is transferred to them.

But the most important ways to protect a domain are the registration of a legal entity with a similar name and the registration of a trademark. Having a business name is an effective way to protect a domain name, but only if there is no other company with an identical name and an unregistered trademark.

A registered trademark plays a significant role in protecting a domain from unscrupulous competitors in various areas, and therefore will be attractive to investors.

Thus, having a business name and trademark registered taking into account the above features will reliably protect the domain name, which is an important means of shaping the company’s image.

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