A common question amongst webmasters and aspiring online business owners is the subject of rights to domain names. There have been a large number of legal questions and demands thrown around over domain names, ranging from Gmail to Microsoft and the more popular case of MySpace, but for regular webmasters like us do we really have the right to claim ownership on every variant of domain name? Since I own CodingFresh.com am I also entitled to own the same domain with .co.uk, .net, .org and the rest?

The simple answer is no.

Domains registration is handled on a first-come, first served basis unless there are specific grounds for appeal. For example, if someone were to register the domain superdomain.org and pass themselves off as the already established superdomain.com then there would be a reason for legal action.

I’m afraid the only real way to get the right to a domain is to hold the international trademark on the domain name, and obviously this isn’t an easy (or cheap) thing to do. In many ways it’s not an easy situation to be in, trademarks are in place to remove confusion about brands, not to entitle rights to the owner, thus making an endeavor to obtain a domain name somewhat pointless (unless you’re the next Microsoft, where in that case you should offer me a job for this post I’ve written for you).

The simple fact is that there are very few companies and individuals that can argue a case to exclusive ownership to a group of domain names. In the rare occasions where two parties have taken their issues to court on this subject it usually ends in a big fat ‘not guilty’ verdict, although the defendant has most likely lost an obscene amount of money on just getting to court. This gives you no right to go out and buy domain names based on popular companies as the only reason these cases exist is to debate two parties that obviously have invested time and effort into their name and business.

Luckily for us there are now specific international channels to take your concerns to. A great resource is the WIPO guide to the Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).

I’m sorry to all those who wanted the answer to be different. I have felt the pain of being priced out of a domain because someone else had purchased it before and demanded thousands for it. Although there are people out there that own domain names that you want it doesn’t mean that all is lost. Believe it or not there are people out there who are willing to sell domain names back to you or to provide a link to your site to avoid any confusion. The best way to enquire is to email the webmaster about whether they are willing to sell you their domain name or to suggest an alternative course of action.

Who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky and the person that owns your domain name might not be a greedy domain farmer.