In a news story published 23 January in The Business Times on the dismissal of a lawsuit against a unit of Grab over a dispute involving the sale of an online domain name, TSMP Law Corporation Head of IP & TMT Adrian Tan noted that it is rare for the High Court to have the opportunity to rule on cybersquatting.

“Such rulings show that the Singapore court is aware of and frowns upon the practice of cybersquatting. In general, cybersquatting has undesirable effects because it prevents businesses and entrepreneurs from legitimately using their business names as their domain names,” he said.

“It may also be harmful to consumers, as consumers may wrongly believe, or be confused as to whether a particular domain really belongs to a particular business,” he added.