SYRELI procedure

The SYRELI procedure, short for « système de résolution de litiges », is the out of court procedure set up by AFNIC, the registry for domain names in .fr and for the French overseas extensions in its charge, to obtain the deletion or transfer of a domain name. It is based on Article L. 45-6 of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code, which allows any person showing an interest in bringing proceedings to ask the registry to delete or transfer a domain name, and on the substantive criteria of Article L. 45-2 of the same code.

Substantive conditions

The applicant must establish two sets of elements. First, the domain name must be liable to infringe intellectual property rights or personality rights, public policy or morality, or be identical or related to that of the French Republic, a local authority or a national or local public institution or service. Second, the holder of the name must lack a legitimate interest or have acted in bad faith, these two conditions being alternative and not cumulative, unlike under the UDRP procedure. A legitimate interest means, in particular, use of the name in connection with a bona fide offering, being known by that name or legitimate non commercial use. Bad faith may be inferred, in particular, from registration with a view to resale to the right holder, deliberate harm to the right holder’s reputation or exploitation of confusion to attract internet users.

The course of the procedure

The application is filed online with AFNIC, together with payment of a fee. AFNIC checks its admissibility, notifies the domain name holder, who has a period in which to respond, and freezes the domain name during the procedure so that it cannot be transferred. The law requires the registry to rule within two months of receipt of the complete application. The decision is made by an AFNIC panel on the papers, without a hearing, and is published. It is implemented on expiry of a fifteen day period, unless court proceedings are brought within that period, and it may be challenged before the judicial court.

Its place among the other routes

SYRELI offers a quick and inexpensive solution for cases of cybersquatting involving .fr names, with no possibility of compensation or of any measure other than deletion or transfer. AFNIC also offers an alternative procedure entrusted to experts of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, based on the same statutory criteria, which the applicant may prefer for a more complex case. Court proceedings remain available at any time, and are required where damages are sought, where the dispute involves several signs or where trade mark infringement results from the operation of the site.

Key points

SYRELI makes it possible to obtain from AFNIC, within two months, the deletion or transfer of a .fr domain name that infringes a right where its holder has no legitimate interest or has acted in bad faith. It awards no compensation and does not exclude the courts. Before applying to AFNIC, build up evidence of the earlier right and of the indicators of bad faith, keeping dated captures of the site.

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This glossary entry is general in scope and does not constitute legal advice.

Dhenne Avocats is a patent litigation firm. Matters outside that field, such as trade marks, designs, copyright and IT contracts, are handled by practitioners the firm works with regularly, and by the firm itself when they arise in a patent dispute.

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