The federal government wants the rights to www.schweiz.ch
Following unsuccessful attempts to persuade the private holder of the Switzerland.ch, Suisse.ch and Svizzera.ch domains to transfer them, the Swiss Confederation has initiated proceedings with WIPO.
A private individual is registered as the holder of the domain names www.schweiz.ch, www.suisse.ch and www.svizzera.ch with the official domain registrar Switch. After several years of unsuccessful attempts by the Federal Chancellery to persuade the holder to voluntarily transfer the domain name to the Swiss Confederation, it initiated proceedings with the official dispute resolution body for domain names, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), on Thursday. According to the Federal Administration, it is maintaining the Swiss Confederation's right to its domain names. The domain names Schweiz.ch, Suisse.ch and Svizzera.ch are of central importance as the national entry portal for the Swiss Confederation. The domains in question have belonged to a Zurich resident since 1995, who offers T-shirts, information and links on Swiss politics and history and additional services such as currency calculators and freemail on the sites. The Confederation has a good chance with its request under Swiss law. Back in 2002, the Federal Court awarded Luzern.ch to the city of Lucerne without compensation. Also in 2002, the Montana Betriebs AG institute on the Zugerberg had to hand over the domain Montana.ch to the municipality of the same name in Valais. The reason: by using Montana.ch, the institute in central Switzerland created a risk of confusion that would infringe the naming rights of the Valais municipality, reports Sda.
