Region: Europe

Many businesses trading on the Internet are keen to protect their brands on a European-wide basis. Some businesses, however, have been scammed by a German company charging €1,235 for registration in a bogus Community trademarks register.

22 April 2002

Nominet.uk has issued a warning to Scottish businesses that the '.sc' domain, being marketed as a Scottish domain, is in fact the country code of the Seychelles. Nominet notes that while there is nothing wrong with a '.sc' domain name, people should know what they are getting when they register.

18 April 2002

The government has drafted a Domain Names Act that is expected to come into force by March 2003. The new law will significantly broaden the types of name that may be registered and, as a result, increase the number of domain name disputes that will have to be settled.

08 April 2002

The World Wrestling Federation has vowed to appeal a ruling by the UK Court of Appeal, which upheld a previous court order that the World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly the World Wildlife Fund) was entitled to the exclusive use of the initials 'WWF'.

25 March 2002

The European Parliament has approved the creation of the '.eu' top-level domain. The European Commission had previously published its Common Position on February 19, which was adopted by the European Council with a view to adopting a regulation which, when passed, will have direct effect throughout the European Union.

11 March 2002

Nominet UK, the registry for the country-code top-level domain, has introduced '.me.uk' - the first new second-level domain to be introduced since Nominet began operating the registry in 1996. The new addressing space is intended for individual internet users in the United Kingdom.

19 February 2002

Radio Taxis, which takes bookings for London black cabs by telephone and on its website 'RadioTaxis.co.uk', has failed in an attempt before the High Court to win the domain name 'RadioTaxis.com' from its rival Dial-A-Cab.

01 February 2002

A UK court has delivered its decision in the case of <i>World Wide Fund for Nature v World Wrestling Federation Entertainment</i>. The outcome is expected to serve as a warning to others as to the problems that might arise through name sharing - even if the parties' business activities are entirely different.

30 January 2002

DNS Belgium, the non-profit organization responsible for registering '.be' country-code top-level domains has drafted a Code of Conduct to govern the relationships between its registrar agents and their customers.

16 January 2002

A joint investigation by ICANN and Afilias has proved that 25% of domain names registered during the '.info' sunrise period were based on faulty or fraudulent trademarks. One such case may include the domain name 'barcelona.info'.

28 November 2001