Domain name extensions

[bainzy]

Hi Everyone,

Last week I found myself in a criminal hearing in Switzerland because I purchased the domain name gruyere.immo

Gruyère is a district in Switzerland and Immo is a domain name extension for the property sector, an abbreviation used in about 40 countries (immobilien/immobilier etc etc).

The company taking me to court was called Gruyere-Immo SA (ltd) which has been established for about 10 years as an estate agency.

Being an English guy in Switzerland I didnt know firstly what immo meant, i had to google it, when I found out it was perfect for what I wanted to do, customise a bit of software for the property sector in an area (Gruyère).

The hearing was horrible, the prosecutor was obviously matey with the company as their lawyer was a director of the agency.

I defended myself but I was only allowed 1 word answers. I refused to sign anything and now await news.

Has anyone ever had such an experience and what happened?

Can someone claim a domain extension, just like .com?

i mean, that surely would cause havoc, imagine SwissCom (the largest telecoms company) saying to Swiss.com the Swiss national airlines, sorry you cant use that name....

Is this bizarre or is it just Swiss?

Any help would be appreciated

Warm regards

bainzy

[aflat9]

I know companies can be super protective about their brand. I had an insurance company hound me because I used an elephant as a logo, luckily that got thrown out.

Surely it would be whoever owns the domain extension that could be potentially liable for prosecution? Rules may be different in Switzerland though!

Good luck!

[Sam frodo]

They must be thinking that you will use their name for publicity but as this domain was available there should be no problem with any name and extension.
I would like to know what was the decision of prosecutor about your case.

[Klaimy]

I have not gone through but yes, there is situation where companies do this out of the brand protecting. I can understand how horrible it was but was that sorted?