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Amazon files lawsuit against Amazon

By Sally Watson

Published: Monday 23 August 1999

The domain name registration system could collapse under the weight of trademark disputes unless governments and lawyers act quickly to update infringement laws for the Internet, says a legal expert.

Nick Lockett, Internet expert at UK law firm, Sidley & Austin, says judges must take a much tougher line in domain name disputes, or take responsibility for developing a sub-class of Internet trademarks.

Last week US online book giant, Amazon.com, filed a suit against CITI Services and its managing director, Greg Lloyd Smith, for racketeering, trademark infringement, extortion and fraud in association with its online Greek bookstore http://www.amazon.gr .

According to Smith, he holds the registered trademark Amazon.gr in Greece and the charges are "absolutely ludicrous". "I don't think it will go to trial. I don't believe the US courts have any authority over Greece - they have no jurisdiction is this matter," he said.

But according to Lockett, whatever the outcome, it is symptomatic of a much wider problem. "We are increasingly going to see cases like this. This is a challenge to the whole intellectual property law - a company in the US can have the same trademark as a company in the UK.

"The concept of a trademark clashes head-on with the concept of the Internet," he continued. "Trademarks are geographic and the Internet is international by definition."

Lockett pointed to some temporary solutions: "One or two countries have passed laws saying you can only have one domain name per company. Another way is to split your homepage or add a link to other companies."

But he warned that judges and lawyers need to strike a balance and not let the big businesses abuse the system by suing small companies rather than paying for top-level domains.