Domain Names in El Salvador
Due that the internet is the most used media globally to practice commerce, it is exploited by those who want to take advantage of the effort, fame and investment of third parties to obtain an economic benefit. The most common way of doing so is:
- Registering domain names that include distinctive signs property of third parties, with that
- Confusing the consuming public regarding where it will be directed and,
- Achieving that way to divert the virtual traffic to their domain
Registering a domain name in El Salvador is as easy as filing an application before the Internet Domains Registrar, accompanied by the receipt of the registration fees duly paid. Following this procedure, the registration of a domain is obtained for a term of up to five years. Having an internet domain registered, electronic commerce may be practiced, having the entire world as the target market! The problem is when this is done in bad faith, including in the domain name registered distinctive signs property of third parties in order to attract consumers in a fraudulent way.
Diverting traffic on the internet by the use of infringing domain names is called cybersquatting, and causes an effective confusion of the infringing website with a trademark, slogan, trade name, or any other distinctive sign property of a third party. Economically, this means exposition, publicity and purchases on the internet that consumers make associating the infringing website with the original distinctive sign. Diverting internet traffic reaches a point where the titleholder of the infringed distinctive sign is affected, and it is here when the offenders seek to take advantage, trying to sell to the titleholders of the internet domain, the website at huge sums of money. Fortunately, this is not at mercy of the offenders, existing ways to solve this type of conflicts.
The managing entity of the registration of domain names in El Salvador, reserves the right to require, when necessary, the documents that prove the ownership of a distinctive sign used in a domain name that is about to be registered. However, as the Intellectual Property Registry and Internet Domains Registry are not linked, it is very hard to control at first hand a trademark infringement. Therefore, the Law of Trademarks and Other Distinctive Signs establishes the Internet Domains Registry must count on with procedures to solve all conflicts, because a domain name titleholder in El Salvador infringes an intellectual property right within Salvadorian territory.
However, in reality, the Internet Domains Registry in El Salvador only establishes conciliation as a means to solve these conflicts, and in case that same is not possible, refers the titleholder to the Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration Center of the American Chamber of Commerce. Nonetheless, this Center does not operate, therefore the affected by this type of internet piracy, may present their case before the competent courts in El Salvador in Intellectual Property matters.
Internet is of such relevance for commerce nowadays, that it must be the place where merchants practice a constant cyber-watch in order to identify if their intellectual property rights are being infringed by third parties.
Fermina Bolaños Meardi
Associate
García & Bodán
El Salvador