Trademarks and .ae domain names

Trademark vs domain name

• A .ae domain is registered first-come through an accredited registrar; nobody checks trademarks.
• A trademark gives you the legal right to stop others using your brand for related goods or services — including in a domain name used in bad faith.
• Register both: the domain to use it, the trademark to defend it. How to register in the UAE.

Getting a copied .ae domain back

Complaints are filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center under the .ae Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. You must show that:

1. the domain is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark you hold;
2. the holder has no rights or legitimate interest in it; and
3. it was registered or is being used in bad faith (for example to sell it to you, to copy your business or to mislead customers).

The panel can order the domain transferred to you or cancelled; it cannot award money. The holder has about 20 days to answer; decisions usually come in about 2–3 months. WIPO’s fee is about USD 1,500 for one panelist.

Before you file

• Register your UAE trademark — a registration makes the first element easy to prove.
• Collect evidence: screenshots of the site, offers to sell, emails, the date the domain was registered.
• Consider a cease-and-desist letter first; many holders give the domain up.

Other .com / .net disputes use WIPO’s UDRP, which works in a similar way.

Questions