Regarding the non-use argument:  in a different context, several US
cases (eg. Panavision v Toeppen) have found that registering a domain
name for the purpose of selling it to a trade mark owner is enough to
satisfy the US Trade Marks legislation infringement requirement that
there be 'use in commerce' (but this can probably seen as policy-driven,
in order to find against a cybersquatter). Whether this will be enough
to satisfy the Business Names Act is another question.  In Victoria, I
think a business name has to be used in trade within three months of
registration, but I doubt this is monitored at all ...

I have read somewhere that is an offence to abbreviate your business
name (I can't find any authority for this in the Business Names Act,
unless it's just implied).  What does this mean for someone who has
registered Additional Data Services as a business name, and has then
registered adidas.com.au as a domain name (other than obvious trade mark
infringement, passing off and misleading and deceptive conduct actions)?
Again, probably a non-issue, as it's not clear how these business names
are monitored.

Bill Ladas

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Patrick Corliss [SMTP:patrick§quad.net.au]
> Sent:	Wednesday, 18 October 2000 13:13
> To:	dns§auda.org.au
> Subject:	Re: [DNS] One Domain Name Per Commercial Entity
> 
> Warwick A Rothnie asked:
> 
> > Is there any reason why, in a space like .com.au (for commercial
> entities)
> > or .net.au (in practice for commercial entities), there needs to be
> any
> > restrictions on what can be registered as a domain name provided
> that the
> > name is not itself in breach of some third person's rights or
> otherwise
> > likely to mislead or deceive the public?
> 
> Hi Warwick
> 
> At present, there is really no refusal in relation to the proviso part
> of your
> question.  The testing that is performed has other criteria and is
> mainly done
> to deter "cybersquatting".  For example, one rule says that you can
> only
> register one domain name per commercial entity.
> 
> Now a commercial entity may be a company, business name or whatever.
> Let's
> say the cheapest is a business name which is $114 in NSW (I'm told
> much
> cheaper in the NT).  The thinking seems to be that the State or
> Territory
> authorities will make sure it's a genuine business.  And since you can
> only
> have one domain name per REGISTERED commercial entity, you can't
> really
> register many valuable names as a speculative investment.
> 
> However, I've worked for several NSW State authorities and can say
> with
> conviction that they don't really monitor compliance - they are more
> interested in revenue.  It would fall to the person being aggrieved to
> take
> civil action saying they want the business name which you are not
> using.  That
> is it is a dormant business name and so invalid under the relevant Act
> (in
> NSW).
> 
> In any case I can't see the State authorities winning in a non-use
> argument as
> the business name owner can argue "my business is domain name
> investment" or
> even "my business is cybersquatting" in a Catch-22 fashion.
> Personally that's
> what I would argue in a Court (but then again, I'm not a lawyer).  But
> it
> seems like a perfectly valid line of reasoning.
> 
> Interpreting the "one domain name per commercial entity" rule
> strictly,
> Melbourne IT will not allow you to register the same domain name with
> and
> without a hyphen.  For example, if a company wants to register the
> following
> hypothetical domain names (which may or may not really exist, I
> haven't
> checked):
> 
>                 newage.com.au, and
>                 new-age.com.au
> 
> they need TWO registered commercial entities before they can do so.
> 
> Interestingly you are allowed to ADD hyphens so neither of the
> commercial
> entities needs to have a hyphen in its name in the first place.  Which
> I think
> is neo-Orwellian bureaucracy.
> 
> Regards
> Patrick Corliss
> 
> 
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