Domain registration

Domain name registration under '.hu' top level domain is possible for EU citizens and companies without any special formalities.

Domain name registration under '.hu' top level domain is also possible for foreign clients who are not domiciled in the EU if they have a valid trademark in Hungary. The domain may be used without any limitation before the granting of the trademark as well. Our office is ready to assist foreign entities all through the registration process.

The process and the terms are similar in case our client wishes to buy an existing domain. We can help the new holder by drafting the assignment agreement and registering the changes. We also negotiate domain transfer transactions in contentious and non-contentious matters.

We usually suggest our clients to register the appropriate trademark if they have not done so yet.

The guarantee for our expertise is our manager attorney Mr. Gyorgy Pintz who is a member of the Consulting Body of the Association of Hungarian Internet Providers.

Domain disputes

We are ready to represent our clients in contentious domain matters and any eventual proceedings too if necessary.

In case the use of a domain violates the rights of our client we usually start by sending a notice letter to the other party, asking to surrender the domain voluntarily. If the holder of the domain agrees to cooperate, we can monitor and supervise the transfer of the domain to the new holder.

If the other party does not surrender and transfer the domain voluntarily, there are two ways to claim '.hu' domains – provided that the use violates Hungarian domain registration rules:

1. It is possible to bring the case before the 'Alternative Dispute Resolution Forum' according to the specific Hungarian domain rules. The plaintiff may ask for the revocation of the domain and may also ask for the delegation of the same. Our office represents clients regularly before the ADR forum of Hungary. The main principles of domain registration are available under the following link: www.domain.hu – see section 10.1. for dispute resolution.

2. The other possibility is seeking remedy before the court for trademark infringement. If you decide to take this kind of action, you may ask for other sanctions beside the revocation of the trademark: restrain and restitution, also recompensation in the form of statements published through the other similar website of the respondent company or in major newspapers and magazines.

Please note that it is much faster and less expensive to start the process before the ADR Forum. Depending on the number of hearings the costs incurred in a court process may be three or four times higher than those that may be expected in the ADR process.

Once the domain is transferred or the domain cancellation process of the previous user has been resolved, the claimant (the trademark holder) will be able to register the domain for itself. The registration process may be carried out with the help of any Hungarian domain registrar. If you should need help with the registration process, our office can help you with this too.

If the person registering the domain is not the company with the trademark right, this person will probably need a declaration of consent from the trademark holder in order to prove that the right to use the domain is given. We can also help to prepare this declaration if necessary. The transfer of the domain may only be completed if the new holder complies with the terms and conditions set in the official Regulation for Domain Registration.

In order to proceed with the registration we need the following information:
– details of the technical contact person for the domain (name and address, telephone number and e-mail address – please note that these details will be published)
– details of the administrative contact person for the domain (name and address, telephone number and e-mail address – please note that these details will be published)
– name and address of primary DNS server
– name and address of secondary DNS server
– EU tax number of the new domain holder.

The administrative contact person must have a Hungarian postal address.

In contentious matters the availability of proper evidence may be a problem. The status and the position of the domain can be changed very easily, so the threat is that once we make the first legal steps, the respondent changes the actual state of the web-address. With regards to the above we suggest to have a 'certificate of facts' document made by a Hungarian notary public: in this document the notary will officially prove the actual state of the domains, any potential redirection and also the content of the website. The total costs related to this certificate is generally around EUR 250. We may file the ADR claim without this, but we advise our clients not to take any steps without having the status quo certified as evidence.

Finally as reference we proudly point out that our head of office (Mr. Gyorgy Pintz) is one of the panelists of the Hungarian ADR forum. (Not on the Panel if acting for a client, of course.)