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Should My Domain Name be the same as my Company Name? |
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Should My Domain Name Be The Same As My Company Name?
A domain name is the address on the Internet where your business
website can be found. It is a unique name that is used to establish
your company’s presence online as well as for your clients
and potential clients to find you on the Internet.
In Internet parlance, a domain name is also known as a URL or Uniform
Resource Locator. Typically, a domain name will look like this:
http://www.yourcompanyname.com.au.
Obtaining a domain name is your first step to conducting your business
online. By having a website, you have a vehicle through which you can
buy or sell products to anyone connected to the Internet, anywhere in
the world. It is now becoming expected for businesses to have a domain
name and a website.
It is a good idea to have at least a small website in your company name
if only to guard its integrity. It’s not enough to just
obtain the domain name, as a challenger to the name can point to the
fact that it not being used in an attempt to wrestle its ownership from
you. Whether you register several other domain names, one for each area
of your business, or for each of your ‘brand’
names, is optional, but recommended for the same reason. Grab the names
before someone else does.
An important feature of owning a domain name that is the same, or as
close as possible, to your company name is the ability to use that
domain name as part of your company email address/addresses. This
contributes greatly to the professional and business image of your
company, projecting it in a credible light.
You should be careful with the choice of a company name (if choosing a
new one) and its corresponding domain name. Over the years, legal
disputes have arisen out of the use of domain names and company names
that are identical to existing registered trademarks or company names.
What’s more, names that could be the subject of an
infringement action need not be ones that are locally registered here
in Australia. Most world famous names and marks have international
protection against intellectual property infringement that may be
enforced against anyone in almost every country.
ASIC (Australian Securities and Investment Commission) recommends that
your choice of a domain name is not identical, similar or confusingly
similar to an existing business name, company name, reserved company
name or registered trademark.
You can avoid legal conflict by conducting a domain name search on the
Internet and a name search on an Australian domain registration website
prior to reserving a company name for your business. If, after
conducting a thorough search, the proposed name for your company is
free for use, then go ahead and apply for it as your company name.
Should you have an existing business and find that its name has already
been used by someone else for their website, it will be necessary to
look for an alternative that either modifies the business name, or
successfully interprets the nature of your business.
Once you register your domain name, no one else can hold or use the
same Internet address simultaneously.
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