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9 Harv. J. L. & Tech. 483 (1996)
Trademark Law Lost in Cyberspace: Trademark Protection for Internet Addresses

handle is hein.journals/hjlt9 and id is 491 raw text is: Harvard Journal ofLaw & Technology Volume 9, Number 2 Summer 1996 TRADEMAERK LAW LOST IN CYBERSPACE: TRADEMARK PROTECTION FOR INTERNET ADDRESSES Kenneth Sutherlin Dueker I. INTRODUCTION The phenomenal growth' (see Table) of the Internet as a commercial medium has brought about a new set of concerns in the realm of intellectual property. Much of the discussion about the Internet's impact on intellectual property has centered around copyright issues, specifically the enhanced potential for illegal copying, plagiarism, and other related violations2 as E-mail and the World Wide Web4 have proliferated. An unexpected melee has ensued in the trademark arena over Internet addresses. The problem is bipolar: Trademark owners desiring to use their marks as domain names have found the desired form of such names already taken. Conversely, trademark owners have found that their marks are being used as domain names by unauthorized parties, often in a deliberate attempt to free-ride on the goodwill of the mark's owner. * J.D., Harvard Law School, Class of 1997. 1. Aecordingto asurvey byNielsenMedia Research, 37 million people it the United States and Canada now have access to the Internet, amounting to about 16.6% ofthe adult population ofthetwo countries. IntemetWorld, ComnerceNetiNielsen Announce Internet SurveyResulls(Oct 30, 1995), available in World Wide Web, http://www.commerce.net/ pr/103095.niels.html. Although the methodology of this study has been criticized, advertisers are keenly interested in this new medium. See Rajiv Roa, Nielsen'sInternet Survey: Doeslt Carry Any Weight?, FORTUtE, March 18, 1996, at 24. 2. See generally Deborah Reilly, The National Information Infrastructure and Copyright: Intersections and Tensions, 76 1 PAT. & TRADmAm OFF. Soc'y 903 (1994). For a discussion ofthe myriad ofnew unpleasanties on the Internet, many of which are far more pernicious than trademark infringement see Rosalind Resnik, Cybertort: The New Era, NAT'LL.J., Iuly 18, 1994, atAl. 3. E-maiLis the most widely used tool onthe Internet See Gerry Fifer, E-Mail s a Cheap, Easy Way to Conmunicate Worldide, N.Y. L.L, Sept. 6, 1994, at S (discussing the ubiquity of E-mail, even for lawyers). 4. LanceRose, World ide Web Can Ensnare Unwary Users; Potential Copyright Problems Abound, N.Y. L.., Feb. 27, 1995, at S3 (discussing the intellectual property issues stemming from the hypertext linking of World Vide Web pages).