One year ago, the dot-eu domain was launched.  Now, more than 2.5 million registrations later, it is worth reviewing this European-level domain.  For Canadian businesses the dot-eu domain is available where they meet the test for eligibility:  registrants must be a company having its registered office or principal place of business within the EU, or an organisation established within the EU, or an individual resident in the EU. 

With any top-level domain, there are hundreds of disputes and in this case they are managed by the Czech Arbitration Court .

One recent dispute involved a complaint by the owners of the famous ESPRIT trade-mark over the registration of the domain name esprit.eu. The Arbitration Decision ordered the domain name to be transferred back to ESPRIT, even though the word is a generic dictionary word (it means “spirit” in French). The trade-mark owner was able to establish the required elements that the domain name was identical to the Complainant’s mark, and the registrant lacked legitimate interests in the domain name. Having established a lack of legitimate interests, the “bad faith” element was not required under the dot-eu regulations.

Calgary - 19:40 MST