Domain Names and Trademark Infringements – The Brazilian Experience
By Moeller IP Advisors
In the mid-1990s and early 2000s, Brazil was overwhelmed by what commentators described as a real “avalanche” of cybersquatting cases: thousands of domain names were registered using a small variation of a trademark name, in order to mislead consumers and divert traffic away from the legitimate websites. The relative facility with which second-level domain names could be registered in Brazil and the abundance of second-level domain names choices increased the phenomenon. In the latest years, the Brazilian legal system has evolved in order to acknowledge cybersquatting as a serious legal infringement and anti-competitive conduct, and has equipped itself with a series of instruments aimed at protecting trademark owners’ rights.
Registration of ‘.br’ domains: priority to trademark owners
Since 1995 Registro.br, is the entity which is responsible for registering .br domain names in Brazil acting as the official registrar.
Registro.br cannot prevent the registration of a domain name which is identical or similar to a preexisting trademark, except in case of a well-known trademark. However, in case of frozen domains, Registro.br set up a procedure that recognizes trademark holders a priority in registration. Every few months, a list of frozen domain names is published; companies interested in …
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