Warwickshire businesses are being urged to make a name for themselves and register their company’s trading name as an internet site, before someone else does.

Cybersquatting is becoming a big on-line problem and Trading Standards officers in the county have been asked to investigate cases of rival firms signing up their domain names.

Some firms have used the site with their rival’s names to make negative comments about their products, or have attempted to sell the internet address to the business for an inflated price.

Towns and villages hoping to register their names have found the sites already taken by companies hoping to make a profit out of the name.

Trading Standards officers are therefore urging businesses to act now and register their company name before it's too late.

Firms that want to find out if they can still register their domain name can contact CWN, who can see if they are available and how much they cost.

CWN Managing Director Chris Studman said:

“This is an increasing problem and one that we hear about a lot. As a reputable local firm, we are well-established to help any firms sort out their domain name.”

Companies are further urged to register their name as a trademark with the Patents Office on 01633 814000 as this may give them extra protection.

Those companies with their trading names registered could have the added protection of the courts where a trademark has been infringed.

There is presently no UK law to stop anyone, including a rival firm, from registering the unregistered name of any other company, but legislation in the USA is shortly to be passed which will prevent people from registering domain names similar to well-known trademarks.

Warwickshire Trading Standards believes that a similar law in the UK would help to protect businesses.

Noel Hunter, Director of Trading Standards will chair a session on e-commerce at the Trading Standards Institutes annual conference in Brighton this week, where he will be voicing his belief that buying on-line is set to continue to grow and that Trading Standards authorities will face new challenges and play a key role in enforcement matters.

He will also highlight the need for greater levels of co-operation between law enforcement agencies in the UK, and across the world.
   

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