Dismissal of the appeal by company X. GmbH against the City of Lucerne regarding the use of the city's name in a domain name

Facts

The company X. GmbH, domiciled in Lucerne, registered the domain name "www.luzern.ch" with the SWITCH Foundation in Zurich in 1996 and operates a website under this address. When the City of Lucerne prepared its online presence in 1999, it found that this domain name was already occupied by company X. GmbH. The City of Lucerne then demanded that company X. GmbH transfer the Internet address "luzern.ch" to the city free of charge, which the latter refused. The City of Lucerne then brought the case before the District Court of Lucerne-City, which ordered company X. GmbH to make the necessary declarations to transfer the domain name "www.luzern.ch" to the City of Lucerne without compensation. Company X. GmbH appealed against this decision, which the Federal Court ultimately dismissed.

Considerations

The Federal Court considered that the term "luzern" individualized and characterized the City of Lucerne, so that the latter could invoke the protection of the name provided for in Art. 29 para. 2 CC. The use by company X. GmbH of the name of the City of Lucerne as a domain name created a risk of confusion among Internet users, who could think that the website was that of the City of Lucerne. This risk of confusion existed…