Domain name lawyers in Paris
Domains of expertise > Domain names
A domain name carries a large part of your brand identity, your traffic and your company’s digital value. Yet a registration made without checks, a missed renewal or a similar address registered by a third party can quickly undermine your business.
Bouchara & Avocats advises companies on digital law, and in particular on choosing, protecting, managing, monitoring and defending their domain names, in France and internationally.
Would you like to secure a domain name or take action against an abusive registration?
Our domain name services
Choosing and registering a domain name
A name available from a registrar is not necessarily free of third-party rights. It may infringe a trade mark, a company name, a trade name or an earlier domain name.
Our lawyers act to:
- run and analyse prior rights searches;
- check that the proposed name is legally available;
- advise the company on the relevant extensions and variants;
- coordinate the domain name registration with the trade mark filing;
- provide the legal framework for the steps taken with a registrar or a specialist provider.
Auditing, managing and monitoring domain names
A missed renewal or a registration in a supplier’s name can cost the company control of a strategic address.
The firm assists you with:
- auditing the registrants, the registrars and the renewal dates;
- tracking renewal dates and coordinating renewals with the provider concerned;
- transfers between companies or providers;
- drafting and negotiating assignment agreements;
- audits carried out for an acquisition, a fundraising round or a restructuring.
Monitoring and online infringements
We put watch services in place so as to detect quickly:
- cybersquatting;
- typosquatting;
- fake websites and phishing attempts;
- redirections to a competitor’s website;
- domain names identical or similar to your distinctive signs.
Where an infringement occurs, our lawyers preserve the evidence, identify the rights that can be relied on and determine the appropriate proceedings.
Disputes and recovering a domain name
Depending on the extension, the rights held and the outcome sought, the firm acts in the context of:
- a negotiation or a cease-and-desist letter;
- a transfer or cancellation request;
- UDRP, SYRELI or PARL EXPERT proceedings;
- infringement or unfair competition proceedings;
- court proceedings against a fake website or identity theft.
We also defend companies whose domain name is the subject of a transfer request.
Awards and rankings
Bouchara & Avocats and its lawyers are regularly recognised for their expertise in intellectual property, trade mark law and digital law.
Chambers France 2026 — Intellectual Property: Trade Mark & Copyright
Vanessa Bouchara — Band 2, thirteen years in the rankings.
Legal 500 EMEA 2026 — France — Intellectual Property: Trade Marks and Designs
Bouchara & Avocats — Tier 2.
Décideurs | Leaders League 2026
« Strong reputation » — Digital platforms and applications law.
« Highly recommended » — Trade marks: litigation.
« Strong reputation » — Data law and cybersecurity.
IP STARS — Managing IP 2026
Bouchara & Avocats — Trusted Talent Firm, Intellectual Property.
Vanessa Bouchara — Trade Mark Star.
Personal data and digital law team
The domain name: a digital asset worth protecting
Domain name and trade mark: two distinct rights
A domain name identifies a website. Registering one does not, however, confer an exclusive right comparable to that of a registered trade mark.
The two forms of protection are complementary. Before launching a brand, you should therefore check both the availability of the domain name and that of the corresponding trade mark.
Article L. 711-3 of the French Intellectual Property Code provides that an earlier domain name of more than merely local significance may be relied on against a later trade mark where there is a likelihood of confusion.
Conversely, the use of a domain name may amount to infringement where it interferes with the rights attaching to an earlier trade mark (articles L. 713-2 and L. 716-4 of the French Intellectual Property Code).
Securing ownership of the domain name
Particular attention should be paid to domain names registered by an agency, an employee or a supplier. The company must appear as the registrant and retain control of the access credentials, so as to avoid difficulties — especially when the contractual relationship ends.
What remedies are available against cybersquatting?
Cybersquatting consists in registering a domain name identical or similar to an earlier sign in order to profit from it or to disrupt the activity of its owner. Depending on the extension and the rights relied on, UDRP proceedings, SYRELI or PARL EXPERT proceedings, or court proceedings may lead to the cancellation or transfer of the name.
A transfer is not automatic: the company must establish its rights and show that the conditions of the chosen procedure are met, in particular the bad faith of the holder of the disputed domain name. It is therefore important to preserve the evidence and to act quickly.
FAQ
How do you legally protect a domain name?
Protecting a domain name rests on several precautions: checking earlier rights before registering it, registering it in the company’s name, keeping evidence of its use, tracking renewal dates and monitoring similar names. Depending on what is at stake, that strategy can be reinforced by filing the corresponding trade mark and registering the relevant extensions or variants.
How do you recover a domain name registered by a third party?
The first step is, where possible, to identify the holder of the domain name, then to preserve evidence of the infringement and to check the rights your company can rely on. Depending on the extension, the use made of the domain name and the holder’s conduct, a negotiation, a cease-and-desist letter, UDRP, SYRELI or PARL EXPERT proceedings, or court proceedings may be brought in order to obtain its transfer or cancellation.
Can you buy a domain name already held by a third party?
Yes, provided the holder agrees to assign it. Before entering into any negotiation, you should therefore check the identity of the holder, the legal status of the name and whether any third-party rights exist. The agreement must then set out the price, the warranties, the payment terms and the technical transfer steps, so as to avoid paying for an assignment without actually acquiring control of the name. It is often necessary to go through professional escrow intermediaries.
What happens when a domain name expires?
The consequences depend on the extension and on the registrar’s rules. A grace or redemption period may sometimes allow the holder to recover the name after expiry, for an additional fee. Once that period has passed, the name may become available again and be registered by a third party. It is therefore advisable to use a reputable professional to manage your domain name portfolio.
What can you do when the holder of the domain name is based abroad?
Out-of-court proceedings may be available for certain extensions, while court proceedings may fall to several jurisdictions depending on the registrar, the registry, the rights relied on and where the infringement produces its effects. A prior analysis by a lawyer is needed to determine the most effective route and to bring proceedings before the competent authority.
Should you register every extension and every variant of a domain name?
It is generally neither useful nor realistic to register everything. The strategy should target the extensions matching the company’s markets, the variants most likely to create confusion and the typos that present a real risk. An overly broad policy increases costs and the number of renewal dates to manage without guaranteeing better protection.
Would you like to protect or recover a domain name?
Does your company need to audit or monitor its domain names, organise a transfer, or respond to cybersquatting, a fake website or a dispute?
