Digital law lawyer in Strasbourg
Are you launching a website or an application, negotiating an IT contract, operating domain names or facing a dispute with a service provider? Our digital law firm in Strasbourg assists you in framing your projects, protecting your rights and defending your interests when a difficulty arises.
Cabinet Bouchara & Avocats acts both in advisory and litigation matters, with expertise at the crossroads of digital law and intellectual property.
Would you like to be assisted by a digital law lawyer in Strasbourg?
Contact Cabinet Bouchara & Avocats.
Our services
Assistance and advice
Cabinet Bouchara assists you in particular with:
- Your website and bespoke application projects (drafting terms and conditions of sale, terms of use, legal notices, graphic charters, etc.);
- The choice of your domain names;
- Setting up online advertising campaigns;
- Compliance with the rules on the protection and processing of personal data, in particular in dealings with the French data protection authority (CNIL);
- The protection of your domain names (registration formalities, renewals, etc.);
- The defence of your domain names in UDRP-type proceedings and in court actions;
- The management of your domain name portfolio;
- The detection and handling of complaints relating to content published online (disparagement, etc.);
- Setting up domain name watches and internet monitoring to detect infringements of your rights.
Negotiating and drafting contracts
Cabinet Bouchara assists you with the negotiation and drafting of:
- Domain name assignment agreements;
- Agreements assigning intellectual property rights in the website;
- IT contracts;
- Database agreements;
- General terms and conditions of sale online;
- Terms of use for websites, applications, blogs, platforms or online services.
Representation
Cabinet Bouchara represents your interests, as claimant or defendant, in litigation relating to digital law and domain names, including:
- Unfair competition actions;
- UDRP complaints;
- Actions raising the liability of internet service providers (content publishers, access providers, hosts, blog publishers, etc.);
- Court proceedings to stop all types of online infringement (phishing, cybersquatting, typosquatting, etc.) and, where appropriate, to identify those responsible;
- Disputes relating to online referencing and to practices likely to infringe the company’s rights.
Meet our team in Strasbourg
Cabinet Bouchara & Avocats welcomes its clients to its Strasbourg office, located at:
Cabinet Bouchara & Avocats — Strasbourg
Our team assists companies based in Strasbourg, in the Eurométropole and, more broadly, in the Bas-Rhin and the Grand Est region, both in securing their digital projects and in assisting them when a dispute arises.
This presence enables the firm to work closely with executives, legal departments and companies in the region facing digital law and intellectual property issues.
Our awards
Cabinet Bouchara & Avocats and its lawyers are regularly recognised in digital law and intellectual property by French and international rankings.
Trophées du Droit 2026 — Trade mark law
Cabinet Bouchara & Avocats — Winner.
Legal 500 EMEA 2026 — Intellectual Property: Trade Marks and Designs
Cabinet Bouchara Avocats — Tier 2.
Décideurs | Leaders League 2026 — Digital platforms and applications law
Cabinet Bouchara & Avocats — “Forte notoriété”.
Décideurs | Leaders League 2026 — Data and cybersecurity law
Cabinet Bouchara & Avocats — “Forte notoriété”.
Intellectual Property Lawyers Team
Personal data and digital law team
Distinctive signs of a business online
A company’s distinctive signs, such as its trade marks, its corporate name or its domain names, allow it to be identified and to stand out from its competitors.
While the trade mark is the best-known distinctive sign, there are others that are just as important in business life.
Domain names and digital law
Where a company intends to offer its products and/or services online, registering the domain name is essential.
It is in fact advisable to take this step before filing any trade mark, in order to identify any difficulties relating to the availability of the chosen name and to secure its online presence. A domain name is a prior right that can be asserted against a trade mark application or registration.
The registrant may also face attacks from competitors such as cybersquatting or typosquatting, practices that are increasingly widespread.
How to register a domain name?
Cabinet Bouchara has experts specialising in digital law and assists you in choosing your domain name (checking its availability) and with registration and renewal formalities.
Before registering the domain name …
Check its availability
Where a company wishes to register a trade mark, it must choose the domain name it wishes to register and check its availability before taking any step. A domain name may indeed infringe third parties’ prior rights, in particular trade marks, corporate names or trade names used for similar activities.
Knowing the state of prior rights allows the company to assess the risk of a reaction from third parties and to anticipate possible challenges from competing or other businesses.
The rule for domain name registration is “first come, first served”. Once the availability of the domain name has been checked, it should therefore be registered without delay, since a domain name is unique within a naming space (such as .fr).
Registering the domain name …
Reserving the domain name
Registering a domain name requires going through a “registrar”, an intermediary with the competent registries (in particular AFNIC for domain names under the .fr extension).
Once the registration conditions are met, the domain name is registered for a limited period which must be renewed in order to maintain the rights and the registration.
How to protect your domain name?
A domain name that is actually used may constitute a distinctive sign capable of being asserted against later rights, subject to meeting the required conditions. Its protection is not, however, identical to that conferred by a trade mark registration.
In order to protect a domain name against third-party infringement, its holder needs to put in place monthly monitoring to identify new filings of domain names, trade marks, corporate names and other later rights that are identical or similar and filed by third parties.
Cabinet Bouchara assists you with monitoring your domain names and, in particular, with analysing the monitoring results in order to adopt the best defence strategy.
Domain names and trade mark law
Article L.711-3 of the French Intellectual Property Code provides that a domain name may, under certain conditions, constitute a prior right that can be asserted against a later trade mark.
Where a likelihood of confusion is established, its holder may in particular oppose the registration of a trade mark or, depending on the circumstances, seek a declaration of invalidity.
Domain names and other distinctive signs
While a trade mark can be protected by an infringement action, a domain name can only be defended through the civil liability action provided for by article 1240 of the French Civil Code.
The holder of a domain name in use may therefore act on that basis to prevent a third party from using an identical or similar domain name for the same activities.
It will also be able to oppose the use of an identical or similar corporate name, trade name or other distinctive sign, always subject to establishing a likelihood of confusion between the signs.
Cabinet Bouchara assists you in particular with detecting later signs in use, analysing the likelihood of confusion and choosing the defence strategy to be preferred (formal notice, negotiations to seek an amicable solution, bringing court proceedings, etc.).
Where a domain name infringes an earlier trade mark, the trade mark owner may in turn take action against the disputed domain name through an infringement action, but also through out-of-court domain name recovery procedures such as UDRP or, for certain .fr domain names, the SYRELI procedure.
In UDRP proceedings, the complainant must in particular show that:
- The domain name is identical or similar and therefore liable to be confused with the earlier trade mark;
- The respondent has no right or legitimate interest in the registration of that domain name;
- The domain name was registered and is being used by the respondent in bad faith.
The SYRELI procedure is subject to different conditions and may, depending on the circumstances, allow the deletion or transfer of a domain name, in particular under .fr.
FAQ
When should you call on a digital law lawyer in Strasbourg?
Our lawyers can be of assistance from the design stage of a project: drafting an IT contract, launching a SaaS service, developing a platform, securing software rights or organising relations with a service provider. Our lawyers also act once a dispute has arisen or an online infringement has been identified.
Which court has jurisdiction over an IT dispute in Strasbourg?
The competent court depends on the nature of the dispute, the parties involved and, in particular, the clauses set out in the contract. Depending on the circumstances, a matter may fall within the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg Judicial Court. A prior analysis by our lawyers is necessary before bringing proceedings, in order to identify the court that actually has jurisdiction.
Does the firm act on SaaS contracts and disputes with IT service providers?
Yes. The firm acts both upstream, to draft or negotiate contracts, and where a difficulty arises in their performance: delay, disputed deliverables, disagreement over acceptance, service interruption, liability or reversibility.
Would you like to secure a digital project or have a dispute reviewed?
