Domain Name Infringement in UK
Under Article 7 of the Trademarks Directive, a trademark owner cannot prohibit the use of a trademark by a dealer in its domain name, provided it uses the trademark in accordance with honest practices in industrial and commercial matters that too with the consent of the brand owner and inform potential customers of the fact that it is selling the products of a particular brand.
However, a dealer is prohibited to use a famous trademark in its domain name simply because it is selling genuine brand products. For example, in Mercedez-Benz v. Van Meeteren and Subaru v. Ex-dealers, the Dutch Court ruled that the dealers were not allowed to use a combination of a famous trademark and their own name in their domain name "vanmeeterenmercedes.nl' and 'subaruvdvelde.nl' In these particular cases, the court ruled that a trademark owner can prohibit the use of a trademark if it is used in a way that may create the impression that there is a commercial connection between the dealer and the mark owner. In this case, advertising by the dealer was not deemed essential to the further commercialization of the branded products and prohibited the use of the domain name .
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