Before You Buy a .si Domain: Trademarks, Lookalikes and Naming Risks

A .si domain is an address, not a brand monopoly

No. Registering a .si domain gives you the contractual right to use an internet address under the registry’s terms. It does not itself create a trademark, company-name right or other industrial-property right. Register.si describes domains, trademarks and geographical indications as separate rights, even though they may point to the same name or business.

Trademark rights arise under applicable national or regional law. Their scope depends on the mark, the territory and the goods or services covered. Systems such as the Madrid Protocol can streamline applications in multiple territories, but they do not create one worldwide trademark right. A .si registration therefore does not give the holder worldwide ownership of the word or prevent others from having earlier rights.

What makes a .si domain look confusingly similar?

The .si ADR Procedure Guidelines identify several recurring similarity risks: an obvious typo or letter substitution, an added number or symbol, a geographical name, or a generic or descriptive word attached to an earlier mark. The .si suffix itself does not usually make an otherwise identical or near-identical word distinctive.

These are examples for analysis, not automatic findings of infringement, deletion or transfer. Under the .si framework, confusing similarity is considered alongside whether the holder has a legitimate interest and whether the domain was registered or used in bad faith. Website activity may help show bad faith, while the goods or services displayed on the site may not decide the initial word-comparison test.

The potentially relevant right may also be more than a trademark. The .si ARDS rules refer to company names, copyright, geographical designations, personal-name rights and other rights recognised under Slovenian law. That is why a name should not be screened only against one trademark database.

Why a clean search is still not legal clearance

A domain search answers a registration-status question, not a trademark-clearance question. Register.si’s RDAP guidance says a 404 usually means that the domain was not found, but does not always mean it can be registered. A 200 can mean that the domain is registered and/or unavailable at that time; 400 can indicate an invalid request; 401 can involve authentication for a registered domain; and 429 indicates access restriction after too many requests.

RDAP and registrar availability tools are technical checks, not trademark opinions or guarantees that registration will complete. A name may appear available and still conflict with an earlier mark, company name, personal-name right or established commercial use. Conversely, a similar mark does not automatically mean that a domain holder will lose the name: the relevant legal and policy tests still have to be proved.

Trademark databases are screening tools, not clearance certificates. Search tools can reveal potentially relevant records, but territory, goods and services, similar names and certain unregistered rights still matter. WIPO recommends considering national or regional registers as well as its Global Brand Database. A clean result does not establish a legal right to use a name.

The .si dispute route is not simply the ICANN UDRP

For a .si domain, the relevant registry-specific mechanism is the Alternative Domain-name Dispute Resolution System, or ARDS. The Register.si page reviewed on 6 October 2026 displayed Version 5 of the ARDS Rules of Procedure. Those rules form part of the contractual .si framework, preserve access to judicial protection and may be amended when new rules are published.

ARDS is not identical to an ICANN UDRP proceeding. The .si rules say that UDRP rules may be applied mutatis mutandis only where the .si rules do not provide sufficiently precise instructions. They also state that ARDS proceedings and decisions use Slovenian, with certified translations potentially required for foreign-language submissions.

For an ARDS complaint, the complainant must rely on a qualifying right recognised under Slovenian law and establish three elements: the domain is identical or confusingly similar to that right, the holder has no legitimate interest, and the domain was registered or is being used in bad faith. The requested remedy may be deletion or transfer. A court or other recognised proceeding is not excluded by the ARDS route.

A proportionate screen before you buy

As a practical risk-reduction screen, start with the exact name and close variants in .si RDAP and a registrar’s availability system. Search TMview, EUIPO eSearch plus and relevant national registers. Compare potential conflicts by spelling, visual impression, territory and intended goods or services. You can also search ordinary web results, app stores, social platforms and marketplaces for established use, then keep dated notes or screenshots of what you checked.

This is an editorial screening recommendation, not a mandatory EUIPO, WIPO or Register.si clearance process. The point is to find obvious problems early, not to prove that the name is legally safe. Do not treat a successful checkout, an empty database result or an earlier domain registration as a promise that no one can challenge the name.

Consider a trademark lawyer or qualified trademark professional when the name is central to a planned launch, resembles a known brand, involves overlapping goods or services, will be used across several countries, has attracted a warning or opposition, or would be expensive to replace. Advice is especially sensible before buying an already-used domain or investing heavily in packaging, advertising or software. A professional can assess similarity, classes, territories, prior use, coexistence options and filing strategy.