There is currently no specific legislation governing domain names, and case law applying particular provisions of various statutes in this area is also scarce. One of the most problematic issues is the clash of a domain name with other legal concepts (a business name, a trademark), particularly in the context of potential competition.
A domain name is an invented word or character-based designation representing a web (www) address on the international Internet; there is no pre-existing link connecting an unassigned domain name with a particular web address. Indeed, there may be web addresses without a domain name and, conversely, domain names that do not lead to any web address. A domain name is the product of the creative activity of a particular person, who uses it to define and designate a specific web address.
Domain names need to be protected against speculative and parasitic practices by registrants.
As mentioned above, domain names are not protected by any specific legal instrument. Under the Slovak legal system, a domain name falls under the Commercial Code as another asset of value.
The domain name you register belongs solely to your website and prevents others from using the same address, but only on the web. The problem arises with other variants of the domain name, such as domain.com or domain.biz with international status: in that case no one else can own the same .com address, but other parties may use it as a national domain such as domain.sk.
Legal protection comparable to that of national trademarks or international trademarks can be secured only by registering the domain name as a trademark in the relevant region. Without trademark registration, there are very few ways of preventing misuse of a domain name or of a company’s goodwill.