In the law generally there is often the question of whether a given activity or dispute is in the jurisdiction of the court that is being asked to deal with it. Overall this can be a very complicated area of law, and we cannot possibly do it justice here. All we do is set out a couple of the issues that arise and list some cases where they occurred.

In relation to domain names (and Internet content), there are some particular issues. Where parties are themselves overseas, it may be argued that a court in this country cannot deal with the case. In the Scottish case of Bonnier Media the Court of Session was prepared to take action against an individual in Greece and his company in Mauritius because the harm would occur in Scotland.

In Euromarket Designs, the High Court was hearing an application for a US company against an Irish company on the basis of trade mark infringement said to have happened (a) because of a magazine advert distributed both in the UK and Republic of Ireland and (b) because the Irish company had a website. Justice Jacob rejected the idea that jurisdiction should apply so widely. This followed on from another case in which he was involved, 800-Flowers, in which a US florist was seeking to register a trade mark in this country but was opposed by a UK body with a similar phone number. In that case, the US company failed to prove that it had traded in the UK simply because UK callers were in the UK when they phoned the US call centre.

Overall, the principle in trade mark law seems to be that there must be some attempt to 'focus' on a market for a website to 'be there'. The mere fact that a website is available from anywhere in the world is not enough.

Disclaimer

This is intended to be a general introduction to the legal issues in this area and not does not amount to legal advice. If you need specific legal advice you should contact an independent solicitor.