Cybersquatting at the Intersection of Internet Domain Names and Trademark Law

This is a tutorial about the basic elements of domain name system and trademark law focussing on the interactions between them and specifically on the concept of cybersquatting. Cybersquatting is the registration (with the intent to profit) of a domain name that is the trademark of another. The tutorial reviews the structure of the domain name space and it´s associated protocols as well as the legal context for trademarks and the recent advances for adjudication of disputes related to cybersquatting. Intermixed with the technical discussion, the paper also provides four rationales for engineers concerned with the design of communications protocols and related information systems to give consideration to aspects of law, in this case trademark law, that may impact the design or usage of these protocols and information systems. Some potential impacts of recent extensions proposed for the gTLD domain name space are also considered.