Interpretation by the Supreme People’s Court of Several Issues Relating to the Application of Law in Adjudication of Cases of Civil Disputes over Domain Names on Computer Networks

(Adopted on 26 June 2001 at the 1182nd meeting of the Adjudication Committee of the Supreme People's Court, Fashi (2001) No. 24, promulgated on 17 July 2001 and enforced on 24 July 2001)

According to the rules of the “General Rule of Civil Law of the People' Republic of China” (hereinafter referred to as the General Rule of Civil Law), the “Anti-trust Law of the People' Republic of China” (hereinafter referred to as the Anti-trust Law) and the “Civil Procedure Law of the People' Republic of China” (hereinafter referred to as the Civil Procedure Law), the rules are hereby made as follows for the purpose of correct trial of civil dispute cases involving acts such as registration or use of a computer network domain name:

Article 1　

Regarding civil disputes involving acts such as registration or use of a computer network domain name, if a lawsuit filed to the people’s court by a party concerned is determined through examination as conforming to Article 108 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people’s court shall accept the case for trial.

Article 2

A dispute case involving the infringement of a computer network domain name shall come under the jurisdiction of the people’s court in the action place of the right infringement or in the place of the defendant’s residence.

If it is difficult to determine the action place of the right infringement or the place of the defendant’s residence, the place where the computer terminal found by the plaintiff to be using the said domain name is located may be regarded as the action place of the right infringement.

The domain name dispute cases involving parties in foreign countries means those domain name dispute cases in which either of the parties concerned or both parties concerned are foreigners or persons without nationality, foreign companies or organizations, international organizations or cases in which the place of domain name registration is in a foreign country. The jurisdiction of domain name dispute cases that happen within the People’s Republic of China shall be determined according to the provisions of part 4 of the Civil Procedure Law.

Article 3　

The main points of a domain name dispute case shall be determined according to the nature of the legal relationship between the two parties concerned and the case shall be preceded by the computer network domain name. If it is difficult to determine the nature of the legal relationship of the dispute, the case may be generally referred to as a computer network domain name dispute case.

Article 4　

During the trial of a domain name dispute case, the people’s court shall rule that an act of the defendant such as registration and use of the domain name has constituted an infringement or illegal competition, if any of the conditions as follows is satisfied:

(1) The civil rights and interests for which the plaintiff requests for protection are legal and effective.

(2) The defendant’s domain name or the main part of the domain name constitutes the duplication, imitation, translation or transliteration of the plaintiff’s well-known trademark, or is equivalent or similar to the plaintiff’s trademark or domain name in a way that causes the related public’s mistaken recognition.

(3) The defendant does not enjoy the rights and interests for the domain name or the main part of the domain name; nor does he have legitimate ground for registration and use of the said domain name.

(4) The defendant registered or used the said domain name out of a mala fide intention.

Article 5　

If the defendant’s act is proved to have fallen under one of the cases as follows, the people’s court shall rule that the defendant has a mala fide intention:

(1) Where he registered another person’s well-known trademark as his own domain name for the purpose of gaining commercial profits

(2) Where he, for the purpose of gaining commercial profits, registered and used a domain name equivalent or similar to the plaintiff’s registered trademark or domain name, or intentionally caused confusion with the product and service provided by the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s Web site, or misled Web visitors into accessing his Web site or other online Web sites

(3) Where he once promised to sell or let out the said domain name at a high price or transferred the said domain name in other styles to gain illegal profits

(4) Where he did not use or had no intention of using the domain name after the registration and also purposely prevented the rights holder from registering the said domain name

(5) Other cases with a mala fide intention

If the defendant can provide evidence to show that the domain name held by him had already gained some name recognition before the dispute arose and can show differences from the plaintiff's registered trademark and domain name or there are other circumstances that can adequately prove that no mala fide intention was involved, the people's court may rule that the defendant has no mala fide intention.

Article 6　

During the trial of a domain name dispute case, the people’s court may, according to the request of the party concerned or the particular conditions of the case, make a ruling on whether or not a registered trademark under dispute is a well-known one according to the law.

Article 7　

During the trial of a domain name dispute case, the people’s court shall apply corresponding legal provisions if the circumstances which fall under the provision of Article 4 of this interpretation constitute right infringement according to the relevant laws; if the circumstances constitute an act of illegal competition, the court may apply the provisions of Article 4 of the General Rule of Civil Law and Article 1 of the Anti-trust Law.

Domain name dispute cases involving parties in foreign countries shall be tried according to the relevant provisions of Chapter 8 of the General Rule of Civil Law.

Article 8　

If the people's court rules that the acts of the registration and use of the domain name constitute right infringement or illegal competition, it may order the defendant to stop the act of the right infringement and revoke the domain name, or rule according to the request of the plaintiff that the plaintiff may register and use the said domain name. If actual losses have been incurred to the right holder, the court may order the defendant to compensate for damages.