A .cn domain name is sometimes a must-have domain extension when an international business opens its China branch or wants to tap into the Chinese market. Unlike some other ccTLDs whose disputes can be resolved through WIPO, .cn domain dispute can only be resolved through China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Center if an arbitration route is taken. Moreover, the applicable policies and procedures are different from those of ccTLDs and gTLDs. This article will briefly discuss the policies and procedures for handling .cn domain squatting in China.
Arbitration Route
The applicable policy regarding .CN domain is CNNIC’s Domain Dispute Resolution Policy. Once one files an complaint to the designated arbitration tribunal, the dispute is resolved through a one-person or three-person tribunal.
In order to prevail, the complainant must demonstrate that the following three criteria are met: 1) the domain and complainant’s interest or mark are the same or confusingly similar; 2) the respondent does not enjoy legitimate rights on the domain; and 3) the respondent has bad faith in registering or using the domain.
The policy and its corresponding procedures are mainly modeled after the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy so that they are generally similar.
However, there is one caveat. The complainant is barred to raise an arbitration route is the .cn domain has been registered for two years. This is quite bad news for some trademark owners and make it difficult for some interest owner to reclaim the domain names. Interest holder must resort to the civil judicial route to get squatted domain back.
Judicial Route
The judicial route derives from the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on Application of Laws in the Trial of Civil Disputes Over Domain Names of Computer Network (effective July 24, 2001), and is a spin-off of the Anti-unfair Compeition Law.
When deciding the merits of each case, the court will consider the following factors:
1) whether the civil rights and interests that the plaintiff asked for protection are legal and valid;
2) whether the domain name or the main part of the domain name of the defendant has constituted duplication, imitation, translation or transliteration of the well-known trademark of the plaintiff; or is the same as or similar to the registered trademark of the plaintiff so that the public may take it for the registered trademark of the plaintiff by mistake;
3) whether the defendant doesn’t have rights or interests of the said domain name or its main part, neither does he have proper reasons to register or use that domain name; and
4) whether the defendant is registering or using that domain name through malice intentions.
The court presiding the cases can award damages, and can order the defendant to transfer the domain.
Overall, the court has more power over adjudicating domain name dispute. However, the court proceeding can take up to a year for first instance while the arbitration takes less than 2 months for the tribunal panel to render a decision.
