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The Dot-CA System: An Overview

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority ("CIRA") is a not-for-profit Canadian corporation mandated to operate the dot-ca country code top level domain name. CIRA sets policy for, manages and operates the dot-ca domain space for Registrars and Registrants.

Dot-CA Dispute Mechanism: CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy

In November 2001, CIRA, the body mandated to govern the dot-ca space, implemented the CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ("CDRP"), which addresses instances of bad faith registration in the dot-ca space. Registrants must submit to a Complaint pursuant to the CDRP if an aggrieved trade-mark owner elects to challenge a dot-ca domain name registration.

Substantive Elements of the CIRA Dispute Resolution Policy

The CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ("CDRP") sets out three (3) factors a complainant trade-mark owner ("Complainant") must satisfy in order to secure the transfer of the disputed domain name.

Domain Name Enforcement - Initiating A Court Action

The Canadian Trade-marks Act provides that trade-mark owners may bring actions for infringement, depreciation of goodwill and passing off.

Remedies Available in a Court Action

Courts have considered a number of remedies, including declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as general damages and punitive damages.

Remedies Available Under The CIRA Dispute Resolution Policy

The CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ("CDRP") provides for the cancellation or transfer of the disputed domain name should the complainant trade-mark ("Complainant") owner establish that a domain name was registered in bad faith.

Remedies Available Under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act

The U.S. statute, the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act ("ACPA"), provides a civil cause of action against anyone who, with a bad faith intent to profit, registers, traffics in, or uses a domain name that is confusingly similar, or identical, to a distinctive mark, or confusingly similar, or dilutive of, a famous mark.

Doctrine of Initial Interest Confusion

The doctrine of initial interest confusion has received limited attention from Canadian courts. Initial interest confusion refers to the use of another's trade-mark in a manner reasonably calculated to capture initial consumer attention even though no actual sale is completed as a result of the confusion (Brookfield Communications Inc. v. West Coast Entertainment Corp., 174 F.3d 1036 (9th Cir. 1999).