Global share reaches 84.5%! Why have Chinese domain names become a new focus for intellectual property protection?
By the end of 2024, there will be 57 Chinese gTLDs in the world, with 307,000 domain names, accounting for 84.5% of the global multilingual gTLDs. The number of Chinese top-level domains in China has reached 32, accounting for 18.7% of the total number of all top-level domains in China, and the number of top-level domain names has grown steadily…… Recently, the 31st Statistical Report on the Development of Global Domain Names (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”) was released in Beijing. The report proposes that in the era of digital economy, enterprises need to take the collaborative protection mechanism of “trademark + Chinese domain name” as the core, build a full-chain brand protection system covering registration protection, regular monitoring and legal rights protection, and realize the integration of online and offline protection of digital brand assets.
“At present, the promotion and use of Chinese domain names has been widely recognized by all sectors of society and has shown far-reaching value in many fields. In the context of the digital era, the simultaneous protection of trademarks and Chinese domain names is of great significance, and it is hoped that the majority of enterprises will incorporate Chinese domain names into the intellectual property management system with a forward-looking vision to effectively prevent the risk of loss of digital assets from the source. Wu Dongping, vice president and secretary general of the China Trademark Association, said at the 8th Chinese Domain Name Innovation and Application Forum held recently that he expects that with the continuous improvement of the Chinese domain name ecology, this digital logo can shine more brightly in the global business map and build a communication bridge across different languages and cultures for the brand.
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Chinese domain names are gaining momentum
“As an important part of the basic resources of the Internet, Chinese domain names are the key carrier for building cyberspace and cultural confidence, and the key infrastructure for implementing the strategy of cyber power, promoting the construction of digital China, and promoting the integration of real numbers.” Han Xia, executive deputy director and secretary general of the Information and Communication Technology Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and chairman of the Internet Basic Resources Working Committee of the Internet Society of China, said that in recent years, the standard and service system of Chinese domain names have been continuously improved, the quality of registration services has been continuously improved, the resolution performance of Chinese domain names has been significantly improved, and the speed and stability of resolution have reached the international advanced level. With the comprehensive deepening of the construction of a manufacturing power, a network power, and a digital China, Chinese domain names are ushering in unprecedented development opportunities.
“Internet basic resources such as domain names and IP addresses play a key role in supporting the implementation of national strategies, and Chinese domain names, as an important part of basic resources, have made positive progress in innovative development and application environment construction in recent years.” Chen Jiachun, vice chairman and executive deputy secretary general of the Internet Society of China, said that the promotion of Chinese domain names can not only provide Chinese users with more convenient access to the Internet, but also help expand the space for the inheritance and dissemination of Chinese culture, provide strong support for the digital transformation of enterprises, and promote the deep integration of the real economy and the digital economy.
With the widespread use of Chinese domain names, the conflict and protection between Chinese domain names and intellectual property rights have been paid more and more attention. According to the Research Report on Chinese Domain Name Disputes, since 2002, there have been a total of 430 Chinese domain name dispute cases, involving a total of 507 Chinese domain names, all of which are corporate brands and product brand names with distinctive identification functions. Statistics show that 43% of the Chinese domain names in the number of Chinese domain names are trademarked names, which shows that the brand identity role of Chinese domain names is being recognized by more and more enterprises.
“Chinese domain names are not only a technological innovation, but also a bridge for cultural communication. The just-concluded 15th Beijing International Film Festival launched the Chinese domain name ‘Beijing International Film Festival. The website opens the door of light and shadow to the majority of fans in a more intuitive and culturally marked way, allowing users to directly link and reach the world through Chinese. Li Xiaohang, deputy general manager of Beijing International Film Festival Co., Ltd., said that by registering Chinese domain names, the malicious registration of domain names related to the Beijing International Film Festival has been eliminated, the cost of rights protection has been greatly reduced, and some entities can effectively prevent some entities from using similar domain names for false publicity. At the same time, this measure is also conducive to ensuring the uniqueness and authority of the official channels of the Beijing International Film Festival, and effectively preventing copycat websites from engaging in illegal acts in the name of the Beijing International Film Festival.
Trademark and domain name protection go hand in hand
“Chinese domain names are a kind of technology at the de facto level, and they are the Chinese ‘business cards’ and ‘house numbers’ of enterprises in the online environment. As a commercial logo, the legal rights and interests of Chinese domain names adopt a first-in-waiting-first-served distribution mechanism. At the same time, Chinese domain names can be legally regarded as an unregistered service mark and are protected by the Trademark Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. Guo He, a professor at Renmin University of Chinese, said that the development of Chinese domain names is not only a microcosm of technological innovation, but also a profile of the reconstruction of business rules in the era of digital economy, how to find a balance between technical logic and legal framework, and clarify the relationship between Chinese domain names and trademarks and other intellectual property rights, has become a proposition related to corporate brand protection and the healthy development of the industry.
Song Hefa, vice president of the Beijing Intellectual Property Research Association and researcher of the Institute of Science and Technology Strategy Consulting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out that Chinese domain names can be enterprise names, brand names, product names, advertising slogans, etc., and Chinese domain names have a natural connection with intellectual property rights, and intellectual property protection can be obtained if certain conditions are met.
“As a network address, a domain name may conflict with another person’s trademark or trade name, leading to legal disputes, such as the cybersquatting of a domain name may infringe on the exclusive right to use another person’s registered trademark. At the same time, the registration of similar domain names may also constitute unfair competition. Lin Ziying, an expert from the Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, said that domain names can be protected by relying on the intellectual property system in specific scenarios, such as domain names that are distinctive and have a certain reputation and influence after long-term use, they can apply for registered trademark protection, and they can also claim the application of the relevant provisions of China’s anti-unfair competition law to seek protection.
“The data shows that 82% of trademarks are made up of Chinese, and 43% of Chinese domain names are trademarks. Chinese domain name infringement will cause brand confusion, business loss, brand premium theft, and rising rights protection costs. Hui Xianglong, head of the Chinese domain name intellectual property promotion team of the Internet Society of China, said that in view of the global uniqueness of Chinese domain names, first-in-first-served, the prior rights obtained by registering and applying Chinese URLs and retaining evidence of use can be used to combat infringement of the trademark of the same name. Priority registration of Chinese URLs with the same name as the core trademark and active use have become the only way for brand protection.
“With the development of the Internet economy, the use of domain names in the market can often serve as an indication of the source of goods. With the widespread use of Chinese domain names, the phenomenon of trademarks being preemptively registered as domain names and domain names being preemptively registered as trademarks has occurred from time to time. Enterprises should proactively incorporate domain names into their intellectual property management systems, and actively build an intellectual property shield covering the entire chain of registration protection, regular monitoring, and legal rights protection, so as to prevent the risk of loss of digital assets from the source. “At the 8th Chinese Domain Name Innovation and Application Forum, Ordos Group’s practice and experience in domain name protection attracted attention. Lu Dongsheng, the person in charge of the company’s intellectual property work, introduced that in the face of new challenges and new situations in intellectual property protection, Ordos Group has built a collaborative protection mechanism integrating “trademark + domain name”, and has successively applied for the registration of a series of trademarks such as “Erdos Warm the World”, and used “Warm World. Website” as the official website address of the enterprise.
“The brand is the soul, carrying the market cognition and emotional value; The trademark is a shield that protects the brand identity from misuse; Domain names are the bridge that extends the brand into the internet space. Neglect of trademark protection can lead to brand counterfeiting; Ignoring domain name protection may lead to the interception of online traffic; If you neglect branding, your trademark and domain name will lose your value. Wei Gengxin, deputy general manager and legal minister of Jiangsu Susa Food Co., Ltd., said that having trademark rights does not mean having the right to use Chinese websites, and enterprises should register their brand names with Chinese domain names in time to ensure the uniqueness of the official entrance, further improve brand recognition, lower consumer access thresholds, effectively resist unfair competition, and build a more solid “moat” for brands.
