What’s in A Name – Part 3

KJSbwIn previous articles we looked at Business Name and Trade Mark registration.

With online business becoming more important everyday, more and more businesses are looking to also register domain names that are capable of being easily identified with their business.

A domain name is simply a textual address for a location on the internet. An internet address with  “.au” at the end, indicates that it is registered in Australia and part of the .au domain space regulated by the Australian Domain Name Administrator (commonly referred to as the “auDA”).

Once you’ve chosen the domain name you want to use, registration is through one of the organisations accredited by auDA for that purpose. These organisations (called “Registrars”) are authorised by auDA to provide services to people who want to register a new domain name, renew their existing domain name or make changes to their domain name record.

There are a large number of these organisations and their services and fees vary. Details of these organisations are available at www.auda.org.au/registrars/accredited-registrars/

Similarly to business and company names, there are no proprietary rights in the domain name system. A registrant does not own a domain name but holds a licence to use it for a specified period of time.

Domain name licences are allocated on a first come first serve basis. Provided the relevant eligibility rules are satisfied, the first registrant to apply for a particular domain name will be permitted to licence it. There is also no hierarchy of rights in the domain name system. For example a registered trade mark does not confer any better entitlement to a domain name than a registered business name.

To sum up, the branding of your business will often require a combination of a business name, a trade mark and a domain name registration. The actual mix will vary from business to business and at Everingham Solomons we have the expertise to advise you on the right choices for you business because Helping You is Our Business.

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