Recent Domain Name Cases in the PRC: Problems and Prospects in IP Protection

February 28, 2002 | BY

clpstaff &clp articles

Intellectual property protection in the internet sphere in the PRC remains problematic and shortfalls in current legislation governing domain name dispute resolution are discussed.

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By Chiang Ling Li, Baker & McKenzie, Hong Kong

The People's Republic of China (PRC) first promulgated regulations governing roman letter domain names in 1997. Domain names had been in use in the PRC before then, with a domain name system established in 1994 when the PRC was formally linked to the internet. Since then, several domestic interconnected networks have been set up and more than 2,000 domain names have reportedly been used. Due to a lack of legislation in this area, there have reportedly been quite a number of pirate registrations and illegal sales of domain names.