First come, first served: in Russia, previously registered companies have received priority.

The .РФ domain zone is plagued by scandals.ProblemsThe recent problems with the registration of the popular social network Odnoklassniki domain were just the beginning of a whole series of other problems. Last week, the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court ruled that, when resolving domain disputes, priority is given to companies whose names were registered first. In making their decision, the judges relied, among other things, on a 1927 USSR law.

The Supreme Administrative Court of Russia has banned Yervand Sarkisyants from administering the websites lad-m.ru and ladm.ru. The problem is that the names of these websites are similar to the company name "Lad-M," as well as the registered trademarks "Lad-M" and "LadM." This is despite the fact that Sarkisyants is the registered owner of the company "Lad-M LLC," which manufactures and sells papermaking equipment.

Lower courts rejected the claims of the plaintiff, Lad-M CJSC. The websites ladm.ru and lad-m.ru were registered by Sarkisyants between 2004 and 2006. However, the court ruled that Lad-M CJSC may pursue claims regarding these domain names, as "a company name in itself serves as a means of individualization and is subject to protection without registering a trademark of the same name."

So, in Russia, the court ruled that the company has the right to a domain with the same name as it, even if it received the right to the trademark after the corresponding website was registered by another person.