Supreme Court defines Prerequisites for Intervention of DENIC in Domain Name Disputes

As the registry for .de domain names, DENIC is by no means obliged to check domain names in any way when they are registered. This can be seen from the written substantiation of the judgement of the German Supreme Court in the case of "ambiente.de", which has now been issued. According to the court, as a matter of principle DENIC can only be expected to cancel a registration if a final and conclusive decree from a court against the domain name holder has been passed. Notwithstanding, cancellation can, if at all, only be considered for a domain name "which is identical with a famous trademark with outstanding reputation in general trading circles". DENIC can therefore continue to proceed according to the priority principle and accept registrations in an automated form. The German Supreme Court has now expressly confirmed this mode of procedure.

The Court also substantiated its judgement with the fact that the task of domain name registration is "in the public interest" and DENIC could no longer fulfil this task in the "accustomed efficient way" "if it were obliged to enter into a legal verification in each case in which a third party claims its own rights to a registered domain designation". As a purely technical registration body, DENIC would normally not be in a position to check as to which extent an alleged infringement of rights actually exists. It may therefore continue to refer the assumed owner of rights to the sole responsible holder of the domain name.