If you receive an email from a China or Hong Kong-based domain name registrar informing you of the attempted registration of your brand or trading name as a domain name, check carefully before responding. It may be part of a scam that has been doing the rounds in China for several years. This is an update of our previous Alert 248.

Background
In China, as elsewhere, the domain name registration system does not require applicants to show that they have any legitimate interest in or right to a name in order to register it as a domain name. Applications are, therefore, not subjected to substantive examination and domain names are registered on a first-come, first-served basis.

The domain name system in China (.cn domains and internationalised top-level domains which include Chinese characters) is operated and administered by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), which lists on its website, www.cnnic.net.cn, all accredited domestic domain name registries. Likewise for the Hong Kong Internet Registry Corporation (HKIRC) at www.hkirc.hk, which handles domains ending ‘.hk’.

In recent years, brand owners worldwide have been receiving emails from companies that purport to be, but are not in fact, official Chinese or Hong Kong domain name registries.

'Domain name registry' emails
These emails indicate that the registry concerned has received applications for the registration of domain names that include brand or trading names belonging to the email recipient. They suggest that if these applications have not been authorised by the brand owner, contact should be made with the registry so that the issue can be properly addressed and the interests of the brand owner protected.

When contact is made with the registry, the email recipient is encouraged to register various domain names in .cn or .hk and other TLDs in order to protect itself against the activities of the applicant. In some cases, additional, related services are also being offered.

In reality, accredited registries do not contact brand owners in this way.

Comment
If you receive an email of this sort, you should check carefully before responding. If the company sending the email is not listed as an accredited registry on the CNNIC or HKIRC websites, the email should be ignored. It may, however, prompt you to review your domain name registration policy.