Vol. 11, No. 5, Pg. 38. Names & the Internet: Finding Your Domain.

• Author: By Douglas W. Kim

South Carolina Lawyer

2000.

Vol. 11, No. 5, Pg. 38.

Names & the Internet: Finding Your Domain

38NAMES & THE INTERNET: Finding Your DomainBy Douglas W. KimAs of April 1999, the Internet had reached 92 million users over the age of 16 (up from 79 million nine months earlier), according to the CommerceNet/Nielsen Internet Demographic Survey. See www.commerce.net/research/ stats/apri199.html, viewed Jan. 19, 2000. See also 9 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 483 (Summer 1996).

With the tremendous growth of the Internet and the potential to reach millions of individuals, businesses are rushing to establish Web presences at an amazing rate. Given this ever reaching medium, conflicts between corporate names, domain names and trademarks have been magnified.

The primary cause of these conflicts is the fact that through the Internet, a business can reach everywhere. For example, a search for "ABCO Industries" on the search engine www.infoseek.com returns www.abcoboilers.com, www.goabco.com/abcoinfo.htm, and www.mywebpage.net/abco, all companies containing the name ABCO.

Because of this global exposure, corporate names should no longer be considered without domain names, domain names considered without trademarks, nor any name cleared by merely relying on the Secretary of State. These considerations are even more necessary if the client plans to implement a Web presence associated with his or her business.

To illustrate the issues that arise when a business wishes to secure a corporate name, take the following hypothetical scenario. A client wishes to form an L.L.C. called Brush Creek Furniture. The Secretary of State clears the name for incorporation and the client rents space, purchases inventory and begins selling all types of home furnishings. Unfortunately, no one thought to check the federal trademark and service mark registry or to check registered domain names.

The client then attempts to register the domain name www.brushcreek.com to take advantage of the tremendous marketing medium of the Internet and establish a national business. Unfortunately, the client is shocked that not only is the domain name taken, but also that the site posted under this domain name is sexually explicit. Of course the client's next phone call is to his or her lawyer wanting to

40 know why someone in California is using that name on the Internet and how that person...