If you do not know, you may check here, whether the .fi domain corresponding to your trademark or company name is still available.
Now, you may think that .fi domain is not important to your firm. However, in addition to being great visibility on the Finnish market, a registered .fi domain, will prevent squatters from registering it. Unfortunately, we have recently faced and handled several domain squatting matters here in Finland on behalf of large international corporations. Their main brands have been unlawfully registered as .fi domains and that’s why we wrote this blog.
WHAT IS DOMAIN SQUATTING AND HOW TO GET YOUR DOMAIN BACK?
In general, domain name holders are responsible for making sure that the domain name they have registered is lawful. The domain name must not infringe a protected name or trademark owned by another party.
Domain name squatters buy and register domain names of famous people or popular brand names and then they either reach out to the related people or businesses hoping they want to buy such name from them or wait for brand owners to contact them. The idea behind squatting is simply to block the trademark owner from registering the domain and to profit from selling it.
General top-level domains (gTLDs), such as .com, and some country code top-level domain (ccTLDs), such as .cy, are protected under the UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Resolution Policy) so that bad faith registrations can be disputed following the process set by UDRP. The .fi domain is not included. According to the Finnish Information Society Code, The Finnish domain name registry Traficom can remove a .fi domain name from the register at the request of the owner of a trademark, if at the time of the registration the domain name is based on a protected name or trademark owned by another party, unless the domain name holder can present an acceptable reason for registering the domain name. Therefore, if you learn that your .fi domain is taken, please contact us and we can help you with your domain issues.
HOW TO AVOID PITFALLS?
Register your domain in good time and register all needed extensions. It is much more cost-effective to obtain a domain early rather from a squatter or to go through a dispute resolution process such as UDRP. Remember always to register the domain for your company and do not let distributors or other business partners register your brands as domains, or at least without being controlled by an agreement.
BERGGREN’S EXPERIENCED DOMAIN TEAM
Having a domain that matches your business name or brand to use for your website, online store and e-mail addresses creates a coherent and professional impression of your company’s operations and enhances your marketing. In addition to handling domain disputes, Berggren’s domain services provide your company with a complete solution for the registration, technical management and maintenance of domain names of all types for a specified period of time.
If you have any questions about domain matters you can contact the blog writers Paula Sailas and Atte Karineva from our domain team.
