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26 JUIN 2003. - Misuse of Domain Names Registration Act (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
CHAPTER I^er. - General provisions
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. For the purposes of this Act:
1° "domain name": an alphanumeric representation of a digital IP address (Internet Protocol) that allows to identify a computer connected to the Internet; a domain name is registered under a corresponding top-level domain either as one of the generic domains (gTLD) defined by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) or as one of the country codes (ccTLD) under ISO-3166-1;
2° « domain name registered under the domain BE » : a domain name registered under the domain of first level corresponding to the country code « .be », which was assigned to the Kingdom of Belgium under ISO-3166-1;
3° "Minister": the Minister who has economic affairs in his or her powers.
Art. 3. This Act applies without prejudice to other legal provisions and, in particular, any legal provision protecting trademarks, geographical indications and labels of origin, trade names, original works and all other intellectual property objects, social denominations and names of associations, names of employers, names of geographical entities as well as any legal provision in respect of deloyal competition, practices of trade and information and protection
CHAPTER II. - On-line action
Art. 4. The President of the Court of First Instance or, where appropriate, the President of the Court of Commerce, notes the existence and orders the termination of any misrepresentation of a domain name by a person with his or her domicile in Belgium, and any misrepresentation of a domain name registered under the domain BE.
Is considered to be an abusive registration of a domain name, the fact of registering, by an official registered body to that effect, through or not of an intermediary, without having any right or legitimate interest in it and in the purpose of harming a third party or of improperly taking advantage of it, a domain name that is identical, or resembles the point of creating a risk of confusion, in particular,
Art. 5. Article 4-based action shall be taken at the request of any person who justifies a legitimate interest in the domain name concerned and who may claim a right to any of the signs referred to in Article 4.
Art. 6. The chair of the court may order the holder of the domain name concerned to remove or remove the domain name or to transfer or transfer the domain name to the person he or she designates.
Art. 7. The president of the court may also order the publication of the judgment, in whole or in part, by way of the press or in any other manner that he determines, at the expense of the holder of the domain name that succumbed to the action.
However, these advertising measures may only be prescribed if they are likely to contribute to the cessation of registration or its effects.
Art. 8. The action is formed and educated according to the forms of the referee.
It can be filed by request. It is filed in four copies at the court office or sent to the court office by registered letter to the post.
The court clerk shall promptly notify the opposing party by judicial fold and invite him to appear at the earliest three days, no later than eight days after the pleading is sent, to which is attached a copy of the introductory request.
Under penalty of nullity, the request contains:
1. the indication of day, month and year;
2. the applicant ' s name, name, occupation and domicile;
3. the name and address of the natural or legal person against whom the application is made;
4. the subject matter and presentation of the means of the application;
5. the signature of the applicant or his lawyer.
The judgment is enforceable by provision, notwithstanding any appeal and without bail.
Any decision made on an action based on this Act shall, in the eighties, and the due diligence of the Registrar of the competent court, be communicated to the Minister.
In addition, the Clerk is required to promptly inform the Minister of any appeal against a decision under this Act.
CHAPTER III. - Provisions amending the Judicial Code
Art. 9. Section 587, paragraph 1 of the Judicial Code, replaced by the Act of 3 April 1997 and amended by the Acts of 10 August 1998, 4 May 1999 and 2 August 2002, is supplemented by the following provision:
"12° on requests made pursuant to section 4 of the Act of 26 June 2003 on the improper registration of domain names, with the exception of those referred to in section 589, 12°. "
Art. 10. Section 589 of the Judicial Code, replaced by the Act of 11 April 1999 and amended by the Acts of 11 April 1999, 26 May 2002, 17 July 2002, 2 August 2002 and 20 December 2002, are amended as follows:
"1° on 7°, inserted by the law of 26 May 2002 on intra-community cessation shares in consumer interests, becomes 10°;
2° on 7°, inserted by the law of 20 December 2002 concerning the amicable recovery of consumer debts, becomes 11°;
3° the article is completed as follows:
"12° to Article 4 of the law of 26 June 2003 relating to the abusive registration of domain names, to the extent that they relate to a mark, geographical indication or an original name, a commercial name or the social name of a commercial society. "
CHAPTER IV. - Final provision
Art. 11. Disputes arising from the right to freedom of expression are not within the scope of this Act.
Promulgate this law, let us omit it to be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 26 June 2003.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Economy,
Ch. PICQUE
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
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Note
(1) Regular session 2000-2001.
House of Representatives.
Parliamentary documents. - Bill, 50-1069 - No. 1.
Regular session 2002-2003.
House of Representatives.
Parliamentary documents. - Amendments, 50-1069 - No.^s 2 to 4. - Report, 50-1069 - No. 5. - Text adopted by the Commission, 50-1069 No. 6. - Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate, 50-1069 No. 7.
Annales of the House of Representatives. - Full report: 27 February 2003.
Senate.
Parliamentary documents. - Project transmitted by the House of Representatives, 2-1519, No. 1. - Report, 2-1519, No. 2. - Text corrected by the Commission, 2-1519, No. 3. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, 2-1519, No. 4.
Annales of the Senate. - 27 February 2003.