Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

High Court of England and Wales: domain names are intangible personal property; equitable interest and assignment in Hanger Holdings v Perlake (blackjack.com)

Published on: 26 January 2021

Published by a LexisNexis TMT expert

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Article summary

Hanger Holdings Ltd v Perlake Corp SA and another [2021] EWHC 81 (Ch)

What are the practical implications of this case?

This decision marks the first time a UK court has expressly recognised domain names as intangible personal property. In OBG Ltd v Allan [2007] UKHL 21, Lord Hoffmann indicated he saw no obstacle to treating domain names as intangible property, though those observations were merely obiter. HHJ Hacon’s reasoning on why domain names amount to intangible personal property was brief, but he drew support from Lord Hoffmann’s remarks and was influenced by judicial statements in other jurisdictions, including Canada. Domain names are obtainable through accredited registrars, typically requiring registrants to agree to terms and conditions in a registration service agreement. Ongoing renewal charges are paid to keep the domain and any ancillary registrar services in place, as well as any associated services supplied by the registrar under the relevant agreement. They are transferable with the registrant’s consent, and use of a domain can build goodwill for their business online. Equally, rights holders may enforce intellectual property claims against registrants of infringing domain names. Taken together, these features support the characterisation of domain names as property rights. The ruling is...

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