CIRA, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, manages the registration of domain names ending in “ca”.

It is important that before bringing a domain name dispute that you investigate the timeline of your client’s activities and determine its rights at the relevant times.

To be successful in a domain name dispute under the CDRP, a complainant must show: The specific requirements of these three tests are set out in more detail in the dispute resolution policy and as applied by various panels.

I would like to focus on timing requirements under the policy.

The complainant must show it had rights in the mark “prior to” the date of registration.

In a typical scenario, the complainant has a registered trade-mark in Canada, and the registrant registers a domain name that is identical to the trade-mark after the trade-mark has been used and become known in Canada.