This year, numerous businesses in Shanghai have
discovered that .cn internet domain names featuring their well
known brands have already been registered by others, reported the
Shanghai-based International Finance News on April 18.
“It is one of the most harmful things in online
marketing for enterprises to be unable to register the correct
domain name,” said Liu Xiaoguang, secretary-general of the Working
Committee of Shanghai Enterprises Informatization Adoption and
Promotion.
The brands affected include Hengyuanxiang woolens,
Baimao detergent, Haishi cooking oil, Nanjiren thermals,
Hongshuangxi table tennis gear, Sanqiang underwear, Meijiajing
cosmetics, and Liushen cologne water among others, said sources
from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).
As .cn registrations increase, the number of brand
names snapped up before their corporate owners acquire them also
appears to be rising.
Liu said that many small and medium-sized
enterprises lack awareness of the need to protect domain names,
despite regarding trademarks in the ‘real’ world as important.
This oversight simply provides opportunities for
those wanting to buy up domain names with a view to selling them at
inflated prices, and potential for many future legal disputes.
Multinational corporations seem to have a greater
appreciation of the importance of a branded online presence, and
most were quick to register their own brands with the .cn domain.
CNNIC insiders said registrations in March were “crazy” as some
firms bought up over a hundred domains each, using various
combinations of their company and product names.
Companies like Panasonic, Volkswagen, Volvo and
Ericsson have done this to effectively establish a sound, protected
foundation for future online marketing.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, April 25,
2005)