Domain Names and Legal Rights Objection : which rights to be invoked ?
In the framework of a legal rights objection proceeding, the panel shall assess whether the disputed new gTLD application might infringe complainant’s rights.The considered rights are not limited to registered rights and might consist in common law trademark rights, which may cover a personal name, name of a public authority, pseudonym… (reference to the UDRP case law is interesting on that issue).Furthermore, some panels have ruled that a licensee has standing to file a legal rights objection against the use of the licensed sign within a new gTLD application. On this matter, you can also refer to the recentopinionof the Advocate General which ruled that a licensee can file an action for trademark infringement (C-163/15).For further comments on this issue, seeLe contentieux des nouveaux noms de domaine(par. nr. 76 and nr. 79).“