FAQs about Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property FAQs

I believe somebody is using my domain name, which I rightly own, without my permission.  What is my legal position?

There are three possible scenarios:

1.      The domain name has been stolen

2.      “Cybersquatting”

3.      Passing off

Domain name stolen

If someone has stolen your domain name without having any legal right to it whatsoever, you should get touch with your Internet Service Provider as well as the police as this sort of crime might be perpetrated by organised criminals, which can cause serious harm to your business and others.

“Cybersquatting”

It is against the law to register a domain name which could be reasonably expected to be associated with a particular organisation or business with the view of selling back the domain to the rightful owner.  This is known as cybersquatting and is a relatively common type of dispute within domain disputes.  It has to be shown that the person or organisation which registered the domain did so “in bad faith”, that is with the intention of holding your organisation to ransom and offering to sell back the domain.

Passing off

Passing off is relatively similar to cybersquatting in the sense it involves someone registering a domain name that, from the viewpoint of third parties, could be associated with a particular organisation or product.  However, the key difference between passing off and cybersquatting is the fact that in passing off, the person or organisation that uses a particular domain name does so to benefit from the “goodwill” of a particular organisation or brand and not hold the proper owner of the domain to ransom (as is the case in cybersquatting).  Goodwill can basically be thought of as the reputation and following a particular business or product has.

What needs to be shown to successfully apply for a patent?

To apply for a patent, you must have a product or particular technical process that is:

  • Unique in the world
  • Verified as unique by an expert in a particular field
  • Of use to a particular industry e.g. finance or manufacturing
  • Not a discovery relating to the natural world, medicine (patents are applicable to pharmaceuticals, however), maths or science.

Applying for a patent can be quite a lengthy and involved process.  Unlike some other forms of intellectual property, such as copyright or trademarks, patents place an emphasis on the quality of the idea or process to which the patent application applies to.