Issues On Domain Name Disputes Related To Trademarks

The Internet is changing the modes of life and work rapidly, and as a gate to theInternet, Domain name has caught more and more concerns from both thebusinessmen and the ordinary person.What is a domain name? Can it be one kind of intellectual property? How to crack downcybersquatting effectively? These are the main topics that this thesis is going to discuss.This thesis is composed of four parts. Part One gives an introduction to domainname, including the definition of domain name, the domain name system, themanagement of domain name and the role of US government in creating andmanaging domain name. Part Two analyses the forms, causes, typical cases andapplicable laws of domain name disputes related to trademark, and introducesspecial protections on well-known trademark. Part Three narrates endeavors theinternational organizations, the US, Japan and China have made to solve the domainname disputes. Part Four is the author's considerations and suggestions of domainname dispute resolution. Using analytical and comparative methods, the authorsuggests that China should use the practice of US for reference, and stipulateresolution policies of domain mane dispute in the Trademark Law as that law isgoing to be amended.Part One: Brief introduction of domain name 4A domain name is the human-friendly address of a computer that is usually in aform that is easy to remember or to identify. The characteristics of domain nameinclude uniqueness, universe, etc.The Internet originated from US. As other countries in the world complained aboutUS's monopolistic management of the domain name, the US accepted the generalopinions of international community, and decided that domain name should beadministered by a private organization. In October 1998, the US set up the InternetCorporation for Assigned Names and Numbers as the most authoritativeorganization of domain name administration.Part Two: Introduction of definitions of trademark and well-known trademark, andspecial protections of well-known trademark. One trademark may be held by two ormore different owners in a country if they engage in different industries, However,registration of domain name follows the principle of first come first serve. Therefore,conflicts may occur when the different trademark owners want to register the sametrademark as domain name on the Internet simultaneously. Moreover, registration inbad faith by persons or companies without any rights or legitimate interestsaggravates the conflicts between domain name and trademark. According to thestudies of several domain name cases, currently the courts have to apply some legalprinciples. of trademark law and anti-unfair competition law to regulate domainname disputes, which indicates that traditional law leaves a wide gap in the newInternet field.Part Three: The World Intellectual Property Organization (the "WIPO") made lots ofendeavors to solve the conflicts between domain name and other intellectualproperty. The Final Report promulgated by WIPO on April 20, 1999 provides someauthoritative and systemic proposes, which some proposes are adopted successivelyby ICANN in its Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy and its implementaryrules. WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, which is one of four domain disputeresolution service providers appointed by the ICANN, has deal with manycybersquating disputes in accordance with the mentioned policies and rules. 5The US is the first country in the world that modified its Trademark Law and promulgated the specialAnti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act to regulate domain name dis putes. According to thenew law, besides well-known trademarks, a person shall be liable in a civil action by the owner of amark if in the case of a mark that is distinctive at the time of registration of the domain name. Suchstipulation acknowledges that trademark rights can be extended...