French courts have ruled against eBay in an attempt by the
US-based web auction company to claim the domain name eBay.fr from
a French rival. The name is owned (though not used) by the parent
company of rival French auction site, iBazar.
eBay decided to launch in France using the domain name
ebayfrance.com because the name eBay.fr had already been
registered. eBay went to the French courts to claim eBay.fr (since
disputes over French country code domain names cannot be taken
before international bodies such as the World Intellectual Property
Organisation).
Upholding a previous judgement against eBay, the Paris judge
relied on a technicality in ruling against the US company. A rule
in law allows non-competing companies to share a trade name. The
disputed name is owned by iBazar’s parent company, Forum on the
Net, not by iBazar. Since Forum on the Net is not a rival of eBay,
the judge felt eBay did not have the right to demand the name’s
transfer.
EBay is appealing against the decision.
