Legal protection of domains in relation to the right of indication

63 10 Resumé Legal protection of domains in relation to the right of indication Domain names are a phenomenon of the last decade or two in which there has been an enormous increase in their popularity. We also have to point out the the misuse of domain names has also increased dramatically. The problems associated with domain names can be classified into several cathegories whereas the first one mainly concerns the content of a web presentation the second one is focused on the conflict arising from passing off and other intellectual property infringments. Due to technical requirements of domain names we can see that the number of available domain names is diminishing. This is a great opportunity for many individuals who are able to fully exploit the situation for their benefit. To counter-weight this trend there are initiatives aimed at enlarging the portfolio of available top level domains even though the effectivity of these initiatives can disputable. This piece of work is divided into two parts which overlap in some aspects. The first part is looking on a daomain name as a new legal concept not governed by an explicit statute thus wandering in between various schemes. This part attempts to define the domain name technically as well as legally focusing on its systematization and unveiling the basic..