WIPO Offers Domain Dispute Resolution Services for .CN and .中国

Written by Sophie Hey, Policy Advisor at Valideus

Recently, WIPO announced that as of 1 August 2019, they will provide domain name dispute resolution services for .CN and .中国 (China) country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD).

The provision of domain name dispute resolution services follows the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding signed between WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and Cyberspace Administration of China Minister Zhuang Rongwen in July 2019.

 Like most ccTLDs, .CN and .中国 have a different domain name resolution policy from the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). WIPO sets out the key differences between the UDRP and the policy for .CN and .中国 here. The key parameters of the policy for .CN and .中国 are:

•   Only applies to .CN and .中国 names that have been registered for less than three years (this is an increase from the previous two year limitation). The UDRP does not have a time limit on domain name registrations;
•   Applies to .CN and .中国 domain names that are identical or confusingly similar to any name in which the complainant has civil rights or interests. The UDRP only applies to trademark rights;
•   The complainant in disputes for .CN and .中国 domain names only need to prove either the registration or use of the disputed domain name is in bad faith, while UDRP complaints require both to be established.

“WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Center is the world’s leading provider of dispute resolution services for domain names and we are pleased to be contributing expertise gained over 20 years of services to the registry for the .CN and .中国 domains,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.  He added “Authenticity on the Internet is critical to ensuring the safety and expansion of e-commerce and restoring domain names to legitimate trademark and other rights owners contributes to curbing consumer deception – in a market as large as China this assumes even greater significance.”

Brian Beckham, Head of WIPO’s Internet Dispute Resolution Section said, “We believe this will be a very valuable service for brand owners. For a long time tackling abusive domain registration under .CN has been a challenge. This reflects the commitment of the Chinese government to rights protection.”

A list of panellists for .CN and .中国 domain name disputes conducted through WIPO is available here.