Background
The Finnish communications regulatory authority (FICORA) granted a domain name ppinet.fi to a person X on 9 November 2013.
TeliaSonera filed an appeal to the Market Court against the FICORA's decision.
According to section 4 paragraph 3 of Domain Name Act 228/2003 (amendments up to 397/2009 included), a domain name shall not be illegally based on a protected name or trademark owned by another party or on a natural person’s name.
According to section 3 sub-paragraph 3 of the Act, protected name or trademark means a name or trademark that has been entered into the trade register or into the registers of trademarks, associations, foundations, or political parties; or an established name, a secondary mark or trademark referred to in the Business Names Act (128/1979) or Trademarks Act (7/1964); or a name of a public body, unincorporated state enterprise, independent public corporation, public association, or diplomatic mission of a foreign state or their bodies.
According to section 12 paragraph 1 sub-paragraph 4 of the Act, FICORA may revoke a domain name, if there are weighty reasons to suspect that the domain name is a derivative of a protected name or trademark or a derivative of a natural person’s name that has been obtained with the obvious intent of obtaining benefit or harming another, and the holder of the name or trademark requests that the name be revoked and the domain name holder has not presented an acceptable reason for its right within a period of two weeks.
The court referred to Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) ruling 2006:41, where SAC stated that the competence of FICORA is, regarding the section 12 paragraph 1 sub-paragraph 4 of the Act, only limited to situations where it is evident that the domain name is an unlawful derivative of a protected trademark.
The court had to assess whether the appellant's marks were evidently established at the time of the domain name application on 9 November 2013. If that was the case, the marks are then considered as protected trademarks and eligible for the protection provided in the section 12 paragraph 1 sub-paragraph 4.
TeliaSonera argued that the mark iNET KESKUSKATU was introduced in 1994 and it was used for a long time on a website inet.fi. According to TeliaSonera, this website was one of the most popular and used websites in Finland in the late 1990's.
TeliaSonera argued also that the mark INET has been used actively for internet services since 1995. INET was the most popular home internet plan in Finland. TeliaSonera has also had some other services with the mark INET, such as INET voice chat and INET live.
The Market Court issued its decision 418/16 on 1 July 2016.
The Market Court
According to section 4 paragraph 3 of Domain Name Act 228/2003 (amendments up to 397/2009 included), a domain name shall not be illegally based on a protected name or trademark owned by another party or on a natural person’s name.
According to section 3 sub-paragraph 3 of the Act, protected name or trademark means a name or trademark that has been entered into the trade register or into the registers of trademarks, associations, foundations, or political parties; or an established name, a secondary mark or trademark referred to in the Business Names Act (128/1979) or Trademarks Act (7/1964); or a name of a public body, unincorporated state enterprise, independent public corporation, public association, or diplomatic mission of a foreign state or their bodies.
According to section 12 paragraph 1 sub-paragraph 4 of the Act, FICORA may revoke a domain name, if there are weighty reasons to suspect that the domain name is a derivative of a protected name or trademark or a derivative of a natural person’s name that has been obtained with the obvious intent of obtaining benefit or harming another, and the holder of the name or trademark requests that the name be revoked and the domain name holder has not presented an acceptable reason for its right within a period of two weeks.
According to section 12 paragraph 2 of the Act, FICORA may transfer a domain name that has been revoked by virtue of paragraph 1 (2–4) to a party that has requested the revocation.
The court referred to Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) ruling 2006:41, where SAC stated that the competence of FICORA is, regarding the section 12 paragraph 1 sub-paragraph 4 of the Act, only limited to situations where it is evident that the domain name is an unlawful derivative of a protected trademark.
The court also referred to legal literature where it is stated that the establishment of the mark has to be evident. This requirement is justifiable because of the simplified procedure used in the assessment of the domain name applications.
The court had to assess whether the appellant's marks were evidently established at the time of the domain name application on 9 November 2013. If that was the case, the marks are then considered as protected trademarks and eligible for the protection provided in the section 12 paragraph 1 sub-paragraph 4.
TeliaSonera argued also that the mark INET has been used actively for internet services since 1995. INET was the most popular home internet plan in Finland. TeliaSonera has also had some other services with the mark INET, such as INET voice chat and INET live.
TeliaSonera argued also that the mark PP.INET.FI has been widely used for email services since 1995 and there are still many active users of the email addresses @pp.inet.fi.
The court stated that the marks of the appellant were introduced in the 1990's and they have been widely used back then. However, the assessment here required evidence of the alleged establishment at the time of the domain name application on 9 November 2013. The court stated that the provided evidence is not able to prove that the appellant's marks were evidently established at the time of the domain name application. Therefore, the marks were not protected and there was no need to assess whether the domain name has been obtained with the obvious intent of obtaining benefit or harming the appellant.
The action was dismissed.
The court ordered the appellant to pay the defendant's legal fees, in total 3 441 euros.
The court stated that the marks of the appellant were introduced in the 1990's and they have been widely used back then. However, the assessment here required evidence of the alleged establishment at the time of the domain name application on 9 November 2013. The court stated that the provided evidence is not able to prove that the appellant's marks were evidently established at the time of the domain name application. Therefore, the marks were not protected and there was no need to assess whether the domain name has been obtained with the obvious intent of obtaining benefit or harming the appellant.
The action was dismissed.
The court ordered the appellant to pay the defendant's legal fees, in total 3 441 euros.
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