A domain name is your address on the web, which can make it vitally important. So, what do you do when someone tries to move onto your yard?

If you work on the web at all, you know that domain names can be very similar. This raises the question of when one domain crosses the line and infringes on another. The issue is often brought up with larger commercial sites when others register similar domains.

Protecting intellectual property rights should be a critical step for any business. With an online business, protecting a domain name is all the more critical.

Nothing is more aggravating than having someone infringe upon your domain name. The question for many sites, then, is how to go about protecting the domain. Filing for a trademark is one of the more popular and effective methods, but it is important to understand there are some issues that can come up.

Buying and selling domain names is big business. The nature of the birth of the internet is one of the great reasons why domain names have become so important, and have garnered so much monetary attention.

This year, 15 names used in Internet addresses have resold for at least six figures to companies and individuals hoping to tap into big audiences. On.com got $635,000. Macau.com fetched $550,000.

Sex.com went for a record $12 million in cash and stock to adult-entertainment company Escom in January, according to industry-trade reports and sources with knowledge of the deal, who declined to be named because of the private nature of the sale.