Domain Name Rights

There are no proprietary rights in a domain name. The registrant does not "own" their domain name. Instead, they have a licence to use the domain name for a specified period of time and subject to the licence terms and conditions.

Because a domain name is not a property asset, registrants cannot purport to sell their domain name to another person. There are limited circumstances under which a registrant may transfer their domain name licence.

No one has an automatic right to a domain name. Just because you have a company or business name, or a Registered Trademark, does not automatically give you a better right than anyone else in the corresponding domain name. The DNS is entirely separate from the company/business name or trade mark registration systems. Having a domain name in one domain (eg. "yourcompany.com.au") does not give you the right to stop others from holding the same or similar domain name in another domain (eg. "yourcompany.com", "yourcompany.net.au", "yourcompany.co.uk", etc).

If you think that you have a better entitlement to a domain name than the current registrant, you may be able to bring a complaint under the Dispute Resolution Policy. You should also seek legal advice about your options under the applicable law, such as bringing an action against the registrant for trade mark infringement or passing off.