Domain name has become a business battle, malicious registration of domain names will be illegal

"People rely on their own efforts to have a reputation, after the appeal, as a latecomer to the market, should respect the reputation of others, rather than to destroy the rules, or can not rely on other people's reputation to seek some of their improper benefits." Tsinghua University Cui Guobin, associate professor of law school believes that the use of the market value of the domain name this is understandable, but malicious registration of domain names should be limited.

Since the beginning of the Year of the Dragon, hot issues related to infringement have been staged, while infringement of domain names has become an important one. Jeremy Lin in the United States professional basketball league quickly became popular, the network also set off a while "Lin Tornado." A number of domestic enterprises and individuals have been rumored Lin Shuhao domain names, including Chinese and English, including 22 and Jeremy Lin domain names have been registered. The ".cn domain name" of "Jeremy Lin" was registered by two Xiamen enterprises in succession, and "www.linshuhao.com" was also publicly traded online.

"People rely on their own efforts to have a reputation, after the appeal, as a latecomer to the market, should respect the reputation of others, rather than to destroy the rules, or can not rely on other people's reputation to seek some of their improper benefits." Tsinghua University Cui Guobin, associate professor of law school believes that the use of the market value of the domain name this is understandable, but malicious registration of domain names should be limited.

Domain names become a must for businesses: Coexistence of business opportunities and infringement

Domain names become a must for businesses

Increasing domain name infringement, the domain name more and more by the importance of large companies. Apple has infringed iPad trademark infringement lawsuit in China. In light of this experience, Facebook registered more than 60 trademarks and domain names in China. Ctrip, the same route and eLong have successively purchased the duplicate domain names.

There will be some business opportunities, registered as a domain name seems to have become a new financial tool. In 2008, the international translation of "Fuwa", the mascot of the Beijing Olympic Games, was changed from "Friendlies" to "Fuwa". Sensitive domain name investors immediately registered their domain names and auctioned them at the top Taobao, China's largest shopping site.

Linghu Changhai, Ph.D., Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, believes that domain names are an important resource nowadays. The purpose of cybersquatting is not only the value of advertising, but also the high price of domain names.

In 2010, 2696 cybersquatting cases filed by the WIPO Center were involved in 4370 domain names, an increase of 28% over 2009 and an increase of 16% over 2008. From the data point of view, the number of cases of cybersquatting registered a rapid increase.

According to Liu Honghui, a lawyer who cares about intellectual property rights, the phenomenon of cybersquatting does not happen only in China or in some countries and regions, but occurs frequently in the world, often involving celebrities, famous brands and representative words. To this end, collaboration among nations and the coordination of international organizations are being strengthened. Now more influential international arbitration institutions, such as the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center's ruling, generally have strong credibility and are recognized around the world. At the same time, the organization's "Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)" rules also unify the standards of such arbitration cases.

Malicious registration of domain names will be illegal

Domain name cybersquatting behavior is divided into two kinds of domain name investment and malicious cybersquatting. Liu Honghui believes that malicious cybersquatting is for the purpose of making profits, etc., and preemptively registering the rights of other persons that have been used by others in the field or related fields and have certain influence on the rights of trademarks, domain names or firms is an infringement of knowledge Property rights behavior.

Domain name investment is by virtue of their own judgment on the market to register a trademark, wait for it to appreciate after the further transfer, to earn the difference. Liu Honghui said: "This kind of investment is equally risky, that is, he may or may not appreciate, and registration is to spend some money, in line with the general rules of investment, so is it."

Xu Liang, an undergraduate student, believes that domain name registration should still be based on business negotiation. "Registering a domain name shows that others have seen the business opportunities brought by the future Internet era. The network resources that can be utilized are not limited to e-commerce or network services Charges, is no longer the traditional concept of goods or services, you can make the network resources and business content of the richer. "

"People rely on their own efforts to have a reputation, after the appeal, as a latecomer to the market, should respect the reputation of others, rather than to destroy the rules, or can not rely on other people's reputation to seek some of their improper benefits." Tsinghua University Cui Guobin, associate professor of law school believes that the use of the market value of the domain name this is understandable, but malicious registration of domain names should be limited.

The method of cybersquatting can be divided into two kinds, Liu Honghui said that one is in the domain name is not registered, has found the potential value of the domain name and registered in advance, waiting for the appreciation of the domain name, but also in line with the domain name registration first The other is to wait for the domain name to expire, and to register it when it has not expired yet. Although the success rate is small, there is still a chance of success.

Liu Honghui said that the first is the performance of individual investment vision, as long as no damage to the rights of others, "I think both morally and legally, there is nothing wrong with people's rights, such as rights, such as reputation, may be From a legal point of view, it is necessary to investigate his relevant legal responsibility, from a moral point of view, this is a dehumanizing behavior. " Second, if the registration is successful, from a moral point of view, "it is a very small human behavior, drilling people's loopholes, risk-taking." Legally speaking, rights such as fame and trademark are also illegal if they violate the earlier rights of others or infringe the names of others as well. Liu Honghui reminds consumers that the probability of being preempted can be reduced by extending the renewal period. Regarding malicious cybersquatting, detailed provisions have been made in "China Internet Network Information Center Domain Name Dispute Resolution".

Cui Guobin believes that the domain name itself is a market behavior, through the domain name to sell goods or find business opportunities is normal. If you want to pre-empt the personal name, company name, trademark, etc. will involve legal issues. First of all, it is possible to violate the name right. According to the relevant provisions of the "General Principles of Civil Law," each person has the exclusive right to his name. Therefore, he can not use the other's name to engage in some related commercial activities. Second, for a company, the name of the enterprise Is also protected by law, the use of business names engaged in related business activities, easily lead to infringement of the name of the enterprise; the third aspect, if the use of domain names to sell related products, it may infringe the trademark rights.

Individuals need to have a sense of domain name protection

According to Liu Honghui, relevant agencies should strengthen the examination of certain domain names with special meanings, such as names of celebrities, names of scenic areas or other words and numbers with special meanings, , Reputation of the domain name application.

He said: "We can consummate the laws and regulations of domain name registration with reference to other norms related to intellectual property, which is later than trademark rights and copyright. However, there are still many similarities within the scope of intellectual property rights Relatively speaking, trademarks and other legislation has been more perfect, and some useful provisions can learn from. "

Cui Guobin believes that under the current laws and regulations, it is clearly stipulated in the name of the celebrity, corporate name and trademark rights, in the event of any infringement, if the court can effectively determine the establishment of infringement and require the infringer to make full compensation, Will make the subsequent intention of infringer that unprofitable, infringement will be less.

"It does not mean that we have no rules in this area, but that we really want to take this rule seriously." Cui believes that serious consideration must be given to those rights already existing by others to provide adequate protection, not only for the fair settlement of cases More importantly, there is a clear expectation for the entire community.

Liu Honghui believes that everyone, especially celebrities, should learn to protect their domain names. First, they should renew their domain names on time to avoid being hit by the ball. Secondly, in the event of malicious cybersquatting, attention should be paid to keeping the evidence and using laws Means to safeguard their own rights.