TUESDAY, 15 MAY 2012 Poland: unnamed torts and domain names MEDianus sp. z o.o. and Medianus Agencja Reklamowa sp. z o.o. are seated in the same city, at a location nearby. The first one uses medianus.net domain name and the second medianus.pl. The first company was entered in the Register of Business Entities in the National Court Register (KRS) as MEDianus in June 2003 r. The second one was entered in 2009. MEDianus sp. z o.o. filed a complaint, to prohibit the other company to use the name "medianus" in the company name and as a domain name, based on the provisions of the Polish Act on combating unfair competition. MEDianus sp. z o.o. argued the the use of the same company name caused many confusions with delivery of post or invoices. The District Court dismissed all claims. However, the Appellate Court in Kraków agreed with MEDianus sp. z o.o. appeal and ordered Medianus Agencja Reklamowa to change its company name and website and to publish an apology in two national newspapers. The Polish Supreme Court in its judgment of 9 December 2011 case file III CSK 120/11 dismissed the complaint filed by Medianus Agencja Reklamowa. The Court held that in order to apply the provisions of Article 5 of the Polish Act on combating unfair competition, both companies have to be in competitive relationship. This situation happens when there is a risk of confusion with regard to the identity of entrepreneurs. The Court also confirmed that the so-called cybersquatting is an unnamed delict (tort) under the Polish law.

Posted by: Tomasz Rychlicki @ 13.43 Tags: domain names, company name, Internet domains law, personal rights or interests, Polish Act on Combating Unfair Competition, Polish Supreme Court, Polish TLDs, Link: https://www.marques.org/class46?XID=BHA2830

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