China Changes UDRP for .CN Domain Names

According to a February 27, 2006 article in Managing Intellectual Property, China issued a new uniform dispute resolution policy ("UDRP") for .CN domain names on February 14 that becomes effective on March 17. The changes reportedly include:

• .CN domain name complaints can be filed in only Chinese civil courts once the registration at issue is two-years old.
• The scope of the bad faith adoption requirement has been narrowed from including "assigning to obtain unjustified benefits" to "assigning to the civil right owner or to their competitors to obtain unjustified benefits."
• The good faith use requirement has been broadened to include providing goods or services, even if they have not obtained trade marks but have acquired a certain reputation through use, or they have legitimately used the domain name for commercial or non-commercial purposes without intending to mislead the public.

Thanks to Yu Bo for pointing to an english version of this new UDRP on CNNIC's website at http://www.cnnic.cn/html/Dir/2003/12/12/1977.htm.