Telkom wins domain name dispute

By Staff Writer for Telkom
Johannesburg, 24 Aug 2007

Telkom has won another battle in its war against cyber squatters.

Less than six weeks after Telkom won its first domain name dispute in terms of the new alternative dispute resolution rules that govern .co.za domain name disputes, an adjudicator again decided in Telkom's favour.

He ordered the transfer of five domain names previously registered in the name of a cyber squatter to the telecommunications company.

The decision stemmed from a dispute between Telkom and Customer Care Solutions, regarding the domain names telkombusiness.co.za, telkom-business.co.za, telkomcorporate.co.za, telkom-corporate.co.za and telkom-internet.co.za.

It was the third such decision in terms of the new regulations and the second in terms of which a domain name is transferred.

The South African Institute for Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL) administered the dispute and appointed Deon Bouwer, of Bouwers Inc, to adjudicate.

"Although Customer Care Solutions gave no explanation for their registration of the five domain names, they argued that the regulations do not apply retrospectively to domain names registered before November 2006. They also questioned the legality of the arbitration proceedings and claimed the process was in violation of the Arbitration Act," says Reinhardt Buys of Buys Attorneys.

Telkom claimed it had rights to the name Telkom and that the five domain names registered by Customer Care Solutions were identical or similar to the Telkom name.

"We also argued that Customer Care Solutions intentionally registered the domain names in an effort to block Telkom from doing so. Telkom is a very well known trade name in SA. By registering the domain name, Customer Care Solutions created the impression that it is somehow associated with or connected with Telkom," explains Buys.

"In fact, the two companies are direct competitors."

In his decision, Bouwer rejected the arguments that the regulations do not apply to domain names registered before November 2006. He also ruled against Customer Care Solutions regarding the applicability of the Arbitration Act.

He concluded that Telkom complied with all the requirements of the regulations and accordingly ordered all five domain names be transferred to Telkom.

Customer Care Solutions may appeal the decision within four days, expiring next week.

Telkom also recently submitted a complaint with SAIIPL against The Internet Corporation regarding the domain names phonebook.co.za and whitepages.co.za. The matter is pending.