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New Regulation on Domain-Name Disputes Expected
Chinese legal experts are now working on a new regulation to expand the jurisdiction of arbitrators in handling a rising number of Internet disputes on domain names.
According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the regulation will enable arbitrators to mediate disputes over English-language domain names and also to decide on the ownership of domain names by taking into account criteria other than the fact that the domain names contain registered trademarks.
Tuesday's China Daily said that it would be a significant step forward in settling such disputes since the launching of the pilot mechanism at the beginning of this year, which has limited the influence of the Domain Name Dispute Settlement Center to Chinese- language domain names and only protect trademark ownership.
Li Hu, secretary-general of this center under the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, said that with the new regulation, there would be a sharp increase in the number of cases because a larger number of domain names contain company or agency names or abbreviations.
Parties involved in domain name disputes will be able to choose to go to court or to arbitrators for settlement. However, arbitration has an edge over courts in that settlements are quicker and they can rule over the ownership of domain names.
According to sources with the Supreme People's Court, a judicial interpretation of the settlement of disputes over domain names is expected to better guide trials of such cases, the China Daily reported.
The judicial interpretation will outline rights violations, and give particular clarification on issues such as malicious tort and the protection of well-known trademarks, according to the source.
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