도메인 이름과 상표의 식별력의 손상에 관한 판례평석

Abstract

One of the most interesting legal issues raised by the upcoming of the Internet is the conflict between trademarks and domain names. The Supreme Court of Korea, in association with the interpretation of article 2 of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, made two decisions aboutan act damaging the identity of mark or the fame of another person. In the Viagra case, a legal issue is whether an action of defendants is the tarnishment of widely recognized trademark. The Supreme Court judged that plaintiffs were winners in the case about domain names. A conclusion is reasonable. But the way to reach the conclusion is complex. In the Rolls-royce case, a legal problem is whether an action of selling domain names is the commercial uses of domain names. According to the Supreme Court, as the action is not the commercial uses of them, a defendant was a winner in the case. But I question that the every action of selling them is not the commercial uses. The Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act was amended in Jan. 20, 2004, and the act entered into force six months after the date of its promulgation. According to the amended act, the action of selling them can be the commercial uses. With this point of view, there is a need to study the case.