JURISDICTION REPORT: CHINA
MOVING THE GOAL POSTS: NEW RULES FOR DOMAIN NAMES
Xiang Gao Peksung Intellectual Property Ltd
China’s Internet Network Information Center of China (CNNIC), authorised by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT), acts as China’s domain name registry, overseeing the .cn country code top-level domain (ccTLD) and Chinese Domain Name (CDN) system.
CNNIC recently revised the CNNIC Implementing Rules of Domain Name Registration. Te changes are mainly to qualification requirements for applicants, verification of registration information, privacy protection of registrants’ information, registrar management and so on. Upon approval from the MIIT, the revised Implementing Rules came into force from on May 29, 2012, replacing the previous rules (in place since 2009). Any application for registration of a .cn domain name, and Chinese domain names such as ., . or . under control of CNNIC, or any domain name registration services must comply with the revised rules.
Te enlarged scope of eligible applicants is the most significant change that foreigners should consider. Under the new rules, “any individual or organisation that can bear independently civil liabilities, has the right to apply for the domain registration”. According to the CNNIC’s recent interpretations, a foreign individual applicant needs to provide a copy of his or her proof of identity (such as an identity card, passport or driving licence) together with an executed letter of undertaking through any services registrar; a foreign applicant company needs to provide a copy of its proof of identity (such as a Certificate of Incorporation or the like) through a designated services registrar capable of receiving and examining such documents.
Te old rules required that “an applicant for domain name registration shall be a lawfully registered organisation that can bear independently its own civil responsibilities”. So an individual (both Chinese and foreign) could not be an applicant. An organisation, in this context, was taken to mean an organisation registered and existing in China. Te following documents were required to be submitted when an application was filed by the organisation:
organisation.
Te Certificate of Business Licence is a proof of a registered company’s legal right to operate its business in China. Te certificate is issued by an Administration for Industry and Commerce at county, provincial, or national level aſter it checks and approves the registration of the company according to the relevant laws of China.
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“UNDER THE OLD IMPLEMENTING RULES, A FOREIGN COMPANY ORGANISED AND EXISTING UNDER THE LAW OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY COULD NOT DIRECTLY FILE AN APPLICATION IN ITS NAME.”
A NOC is a unique and invariable legal identifier issued to an enterprise, a department, a society, an association or a non-profit organisation founded and existing under the relevant laws of China. Te Certificate of NOC is issued by the National Administration for Code Allocation to Organizations under the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China. Any company which has a Certificate of Business Licence is eligible to apply for a Certificate of NOC.
Terefore, under the old Implementing Rules, a foreign company organised and existing under the law of a foreign country could not directly file an application in its name, but had to do so through a subsidiary, branch, or representative office of the foreign company in China.
Now these barriers have been removed, it is time for foreigners to reconsider their strategies for registering and protecting their .cn domain names and Chinese domain names.
Under the new rules, a 30-day renewal confirmation period follows the expiration of a domain name, during which a domain name holder confirms its intention to renew it. If the domain name holder decides not to renew it in written form, the service registrar has the authority to cancel the domain name; if the domain name holder fails to say whether it wishes to renew it within the 30 days, registrars have the authority to cancel the domain name. Renewal can also be applied for any time before expiration.
Xiang Gao is a partner at Peksung Intellectual Property Ltd and head of its trademarks department. He can be contacted at:
gxiang@peksung.com
World Intellectual Property Review July/August 2012 55
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