Domain is Property

CK - Washington.   The domainundrecht.de blog analyzes the recent German Constitution Supreme Court decision, docket number 1 BVR 1306/02, of November 24, 2004, involving the ad-acta company and the ad-acta.de domain, both held by different parties. The failure of the domain owner to raise a constitutional issue prevented the court from addressing the constitutional validity of statutes governing domain names and the possibly conflicting rights of owners of trademarks and names, but the court expressed its position that a domain name can constitute a constitutionally protect property right. This line of cases may lead to clarification of the constitutionality of the injection of trademark laws, domain squatting laws and statutes protecting names into the area of domain law, especially as some courts and legislators take the position that domain names may be simply transferred to others, instead of, at most, quashing violative domain names, see Schröder, Notorious Names Override Common Names In German Domain Law.