A ruling by a German appeals court says that a domain name which
translates as housing-cooperative.de cannot be used because it is
against German competition law to use such a generic name. The
decision is now being appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Hamburg Court of Appeal ruled that the domain name
mitwohnzentrale.de (housing-cooperative.de) could not be used
“without a distinctive addition”, as reported by Berlin-based law
firm Bardehle Pagenberg Dost Altenburg Geissler Isenbruck.
The court said that use by a company in the accommodation
business of such a general term with the German second level domain
hindered competitors since web users could be expected to guess
addresses based on general terms. The judgment has been appealed to
the country’s Federal Supreme Court, which has not yet issued its
decision.
There is a growing body of law in Germany on generic .de domain
names. Bardehle also reports that a Munich District Court has
already distinguished the appeal court's ruling in a dispute over
the use of a domain name that translates to car-rental.de
(autovermietung.de), on the basis that other generic terms can be
used for car rental services and that visitors to the site are
likely aware of other car rental companies and would be expected to
continue their search on the internet.
In another case, the same district court blocked the use of
lawyers.de (rechtsanwaelte.de), saying the domain name’s
registration and use constituted unfair competition because it used
a generic word to unfairly exclude all competitors in the
profession. This decision is also subject to appeal.
For more information on German domain name decisions, see the
firm's web site, www.bardehle.de (in English and
German).
