Remedies available for protection of trademarks under the Finnish top-level domain name (.fi) – with focus on alternative dispute resolution and upcoming changes
Keywords:
domain name, alternative dispute resolution, ADR, .fi top-level domain, trademark protection, intellectual property lawAbstract
At the moment, the Finnish top-level domain name (.fi) differs in some respects from most other top-level domain names (TLD). One example is the limitation which makes the .fi TLD registrable only for Finnish companies/organizations and Finnish individuals. This limitation will however probably be removed when the proposed new “information society code” (Swedish: informationssamhällsbalken / Finnish: tietoyhteiskuntakaari) fully enters into force in the autumn of 2016. With this new situation there will follow additional demand for effective legal remedies for protection of trademarks and other marks under the Finnish TLD. This paper focuses on these upcoming changes as well as presents and compares with each other the available remedies. The available remedies include traditional court litigation mainly handled by the Finnish Market Court, and as an option to court litigation a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) administered through the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA).
