WIPO Center Launches Domain Name Dispute Resolution Services for .CN and .中国

As of August 1, 2019, WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Center became the only non-Chinese entity to provide domain name dispute resolution services for the .CN and .中国 (China) country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD), one of the world’s largest ccTLDs.

WIPO’s designation by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) as a dispute resolution provider for the .CN and .中国 ccTLD follows the conclusion of a broader memorandum of understanding signed between WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and CAC Minister Zhuang Rongwen on July 21, 2019. A “Letter of Authorization” designating WIPO as a service provider was presented to the WIPO Center by Director General of China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) Zeng Yu on behalf of the registry of .CN and .中国 domain names.

“WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Center is the world’s leading provider of dispute resolution services for domain names and we are pleased to be contributing expertise gained over 20 years of services to the registry for the .CN and .中国 domains,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.  He added “Authenticity on the Internet is critical to ensuring the safety and expansion of e-commerce and restoring domain names to legitimate trademark and other rights owners contributes to curbing consumer deception – in a market as large as China this assumes even greater significance.”

In addition to all generic Top-Level Domains, such as “.com”, WIPO provides its domain name services for over 75 ccTLDs. The .CN and .中国ccTLD is among the largest in the world with over 22 million registered domain names.

WIPO’s domain names dispute resolution services are aimed at addressing the abusive registration of trademarks as domain names, commonly known as cybersquatting. By combating opportunistic domain name registration practices, WIPO’s services help consumers to find authentic web content and enhance the reliability of the Domain Name System.

WIPO’s dispute resolution services for .CN and .中国 (China) are pursuant to the China ccTLD Dispute Resolution Policy (.CN Policy), the China ccTLD Dispute Resolution Policy Rules (.CN Rules), and the WIPO Supplemental Rules for China ccTLD Dispute Resolution Policy and China ccTLD Dispute Resolution Policy Rules (WIPO Supplemental Rules)

Interested parties should consult the dedicated page for .CN and .中国 domain name dispute resolution services. WIPO Model Pleadings are available in Chinese and English. The page also features a comparison table highlighting the differences between the .CN Policy and the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).

The UDRP, which was proposed by WIPO in 1999 and has become accepted as an international standard for resolving domain name disputes outside the courts, is designed specifically to discourage and resolve cybersquatting.

In addition to WIPO’s dispute resolution services for the .CN and .中国ccTLD, the memorandum of understanding also covers WIPO’s technical assistance in support of human resources development at the CAC, international protection of intellectual property in the digital environment as well as the organization of the World Internet Conference under the auspices of the CAC.

Please contact the WIPO Center with any questions.