.РФ domain: first lawsuits

The Cyrillic .РФ domain zone is developing as expected. Domain disputes have already led to legal proceedings. The first domain name to be withdrawn from a closed auction was AUTO.РФ.

The plaintiff attempted to register the domain name AVTO.RF during the domain name priority registration period, arguing that the company had owned the rights to a certain "means of individualization of 'Avto.rf,'" namely, a trademark or trade name, since 2008. However, the registrar refused to register the domain, despite the fact that the domain name application met all the requirements of the priority registration rules.

Currently, more than 500 registrants are applying for the auto.rf domain, but the domain has been removed from auction.