How to cross swords with pirates holding domain names to ransom

Domain names corresponding to corporate trademarks, like trademarks, have gained an increasingly important identifying role and commercial value, especially for a multinational corporation that wishes to enter the China market.

However, under the immature domain name system in the PRC, the pirate registration of domain names has become a means for some lawbreakers to make a profit. Domain name registration follows the first-to-file principle, and accordingly the pirate registration of another’s registered trademark as a CN domain name and/or Chinese-language domain name results in the “theft” of the added value of another’s trademark. CN domain names and Chinese-language domain names such as “iphone5.cn”, “强生.中国”, “麦当劳.中国”, etc. that match well known brands have been pirated by other enterprises or individuals.

To solve this problem, firstly an enterprise should register its trademark as the corresponding domain name and effectively protect it; secondly, enterprises that have an immediate connection with the internet should emphasise defensive domain name registration, registering copycat domain names and even domain names that are negative or defile its corporate name, so as to guard against others engaging in illegal acts after such registration.

Wang Yadong is the executive partner, and Shan Meng is a lawyer at Run Ming Law Office