Singapore Halts Internet Domain Trademark Application

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

17 March 2003

Singapore's internet registry, the Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC) has withdrawn its request to trademark the .sg suffix, according to reports in the international media.

The SGNIC filed its application to turn the country-code top-level domain name into a trademark in September 1999 in order to prevent any other organisation or entity from registering it first. However, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report, as a result of the hostile public reaction and changes in the industry climate over the past few years, the registry decided on Friday that it 'would not be necessary to proceed' with the application.

In a statement released last week, the SGNIC explained that the international not-for-profit Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which coordinates the technical management of the internet, has put clearer guidelines governing the use of domain names in place since its application was made.

'At the end of the day, it wasn't justifiable to proceed. The (reason) for filing for trademark protection no longer exists in today's context,' Rajah & Tann law partner, Lau Kok Keng explained to Dow Jones Newswires, continuing:

'It is a good way for this to end. There was an adverse public reaction and SGNIC would have faced (the risk) of going (against) the opposition and not overcoming it.'

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