Domain name vs trademark
No. A domain name and a trademark are different: a domain is a rental of one string of text on one extension, giving no right to stop others using that name elsewhere. A trademark is a property right in a name for particular goods or services, and the only thing that lets you recover a domain registered in bad faith.
Buying a domain name and registering a trademark are unrelated legal acts. People assume one implies the other. It does not, and the assumption is expensive in both directions.
A domain name is a rental. You pay a registrar for the exclusive right to point one string of text at a server, and you keep it as long as you keep paying. It gives you no right to stop anyone using that name for their business, their product, or the same name on a different extension.
A trademark is a property right in a name used for particular goods or services. It lets you stop other people using that name, or a confusingly similar one, in the sectors you registered it for. It says nothing about who holds the matching domain.
What each one actually gets you
Two different rights
- What it is
- Domain nameA rental from a registrar
- TrademarkA registered property right
- Term
- Domain nameAnnual, renewable indefinitely
- Trademark10 years, renewable indefinitely
- Scope
- Domain nameThat exact string, that extension
- TrademarkThe name and similar names, in your classes
- Stops a competitor using the name
- Domain nameNo
- TrademarkYes
- Gets you the matching domain
- Domain namen/a
- TrademarkNot automatically
- Cost
- Domain nameAbout €10 to €40 a year
- TrademarkFrom €715 in the UK, €1,530 in the EU
Comparing Domain name with Trademark. What it is: Domain name, A rental from a registrar. Trademark, A registered property right. Term: Domain name, Annual, renewable indefinitely. Trademark, 10 years, renewable indefinitely. Scope: Domain name, That exact string, that extension. Trademark, The name and similar names, in your classes. Stops a competitor using the name: Domain name, No. Trademark, Yes. Gets you the matching domain: Domain name, n/a. Trademark, Not automatically. Cost: Domain name, About €10 to €40 a year. Trademark, From €715 in the UK, €1,530 in the EU.
Register the trademark first, or at least check first
The order that causes trouble is: buy the domain, build the brand, then discover the name was already registered as a trademark by somebody else. At that point you either rebrand or defend an infringement claim, and the domain is the least of it.
The reverse order has a smaller failure mode. If you clear and register the trademark first and the domain is taken, you have options: buy it, use a different extension, or if the holder registered it in bad faith, file a UDRP complaint and have it transferred.
In practice most businesses buy the domain the day they think of the name, because it costs €12 and it might go. That is fine. Just do not treat it as protection, and run a clearance search before you print anything or file anything.
An available domain does not mean an available name
This is the misunderstanding that causes the most damage. Domain availability tells you one thing: nobody has registered that exact string on that exact extension. It tells you nothing about whether an identical trademark exists in your sector, in your country, or across the EU.
Trademark registers and domain registries are separate systems that do not talk to each other. A name can be free on every extension and still be a registered EU trademark owned by somebody who will object the moment you start trading.
Are domain names intellectual property?
No. A domain name is a contract, not a property right. What you buy from a registrar is a renewable licence to have a string resolve to your servers for as long as you keep paying, under a registration agreement that binds you to ICANN's policies. Stop paying and it goes to somebody else.
Courts have circled this for years without settling it the same way everywhere. Some jurisdictions treat a domain as intangible property capable of being owned and converted, others treat it strictly as a contractual right against the registrar. What is consistent is that no jurisdiction treats registering a domain as creating a trademark.
This is not a technicality. It decides what you can do when somebody takes your name:
| Domain registration | Trademark registration | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A contract with a registrar | A registered property right |
| Granted by | A commercial company | EUIPO, UKIPO or another office |
| Term | Annual, renewable indefinitely | 10 years, renewable indefinitely |
| Lets you stop someone else's use | No | Yes, for similar goods and services |
| Lets you bring a UDRP complaint | No | Yes |
| Transfers with the business | By contract | By assignment on the register |
The practical consequence is in paragraph 4(a)(i) of the UDRP: a complainant has to show the domain is identical or confusingly similar to "a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights". Holding another domain gives you no rights to point at. The trademark is the right; the domain is the thing you are trying to get back.
Having a trademark is what lets you recover a domain
The two systems connect at exactly one point, and it works in one direction.
To win a UDRP complaint you must first prove rights in a trademark. Without that, the complaint fails at the first element and nothing else matters. Registered rights are the cleanest way to prove it, though unregistered rights can work if you can evidence real trading reputation, which is harder and more expensive to prove than simply having a registration.
So a trademark registration is not just protection against competitors. It is the key that unlocks the domain recovery process.
What to do
- Check the name is free as a trademark in the territories you will trade in, before you commit to it.
- Register the domain immediately, on the extensions that matter to you.
- File the trademark. In the EU that is €1,530 for one class, or about €895 if you qualify for the SME Fund.
- If somebody already holds the domain and registered it in bad faith, we can pursue a transfer.