Shanti Aboobaker
COLUMNIST and political commentator Max du Preez has won the rights to the domain name maxdupreez.co.za after writer and social commentator Dan Roodt registered it.
The dispute was filed with the SA Institute of Intellectual Property (SAIPP) on January 5 and the domain name was suspended on January 7.
Du Preez alleged that Roodt’s registration of the domain name was an infringement of his personality rights in terms of Section 10 of the constitution, that everyone had an inherent right to dignity, and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.
According to court documents, the domain registered was identical and confusingly similar to Du Preez’s name, and was a “wilful and deliberate attempt to take unfair advantage of (his) reputation”.
Du Preez said that, as a “well-known journalist and political commentator”, he could not conceive that Roodt would have registered the offending domain name without having prior knowledge of him.
Du Preez was clear, however, that he did not object to the domain name maxdupreezsucks.co.za.
Roodt argued that the name “Du Preez” was common, and that “Max” was “not distinctive and could be the abbreviation for several names”. Roodt said maxdupreez was not a registered trademark like Coca-Cola and that, as Du Preez did not have registered trademark rights on his name, he consequently did not have rights in the disputed domain name.
The SAIPP stated that Du Preez’s name was worthy of protection as a personality item, since he relied on his name to sell his books.
It found Roodt had registered Du Preez’s exact name to obtain an unfair advantage over him.
The domain name has been transferred to Du Preez.