ccTLDs.com » Country Code Specific Forums » .fr Forum

[Rick Latona]

I've heard that France is the most litigous of all the ccTLDs. Has anyone been sued over owning a .fr name?

[Carter]

I never be involved in any lawsuits (personally) but I've heard too this story specially with short domains.fr and geo names...

[Rick Latona]

Originally Posted by Carter

I never be involved in any lawsuits (personally) but I've heard too this story specially with short domains.fr and geo names...

Are you saying you can get sued for lll.fr names?

[cybertonic]

I admit I have been lucky, I never have any law problem with my domains so it's something I have not seriously followed.

What I can tell you is that Cedric Manara is the most popular french lawyer regarding domain names.

His blog is available at:
http://domaine.blogspot.com/

You will notice there are lawsuits activity.

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by Rick Latona

I've heard that France is the most litigous of all the ccTLDs. Has anyone been sued over owning a .fr name?

Just one example:

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/d...2006-0018.html

- Top generic, french dictionary name
- Not in use, not for sale
- Domain even older than the trademark

-> Transfer

[Carter]

Originally Posted by Rick Latona

Are you saying you can get sued for lll.fr names?

I've heard of peoples received C&D from france companies for some geo names and a guy on another board told me he had some problems with short .fr domains...I never deal with .fr personally.

Probably some companies try to defend their brands and it's always dangerous deal with acronyms IMHO

[Hennie]

It gets even worse than being used, sometimes names are simply taken. The French (registry) are extremely patriottic. If it smells like a foreigner owning a .fr domain and a French company asks for it, you're gone. I have had absolutely generic words simply disappearing from my account and being given to a French company.
I stay away from .fr domains, too dangerous.

[longhorn]

I have a friend who was taken to court over a generic domain. Quite crazy.

[cybertonic]

Daniel I was not aware of the Local.fr story ... It's crazy!

[jasdon]

Originally Posted by Daniel

Just one example:

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/d...2006-0018.html

- Top generic, french dictionary name
- Not in use, not for sale
- Domain even older than the trademark

-> Transfer

That's harsh to say the least.

[a FR Guy]

I think that saying they are rampant is an exaggeration.

It's true that you will be sued if you register domain names that are clearly the same as company names or trademarks or typos these companies. But, as with anything else if you research the market and learn how to play within the rules there is little that can or will be done against you.

We own a lot of .fr domain names and haven't been sued in years. In the 5+ years that we've been in the market we've only been sued 3 times, these 3 lawsuits were in our first 18 months of operation when learning the process and rules and not one ever went to court.

We typically get 3-5 C&D a month, when we get them we evaluate the domain name on a case by case basis. If it's a name where there is an actual verrifiable trademark, or a name we feel we were in the wrong registering we delete the name or give it to the person contacting us. If it's a name that is generic and defendable we ignore the C&D.

This policy has worked very well for us.

This is a market where you have to keep your nose clean, and when you're legally in the wrong you have to accept the loss of the domain name and move on.