Region: Asia-Pacific

A Korean court has issued an injunction preventing the transfer of domain names as ordered by a French court. The decision suggests that a court not located at the place of the registrant or the registrar does not have jurisdiction to order the transfer of a domain name in another jurisdiction.

31 October 2001

The Supreme People's Court has issued guidelines that provide courts with objective standards for the trial of domain name disputes. However, foreign trademark owners that have not yet started doing business in the country may find it difficult to protect their marks.

24 October 2001

The Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Company Limited has taken over the role of administering '.hk' country code top-level domains and has implemented new, liberalized registration rules and a new dispute resolution policy.

11 September 2001

The registry for Christmas Island is in the midst of an 18 month-old battle with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority over transfer of control of the domain '.cx'. Because the island is a dependency of Australia, the authority wants the Australian government to approve the transfer. A temporary truce has been reached, but the war has yet to end.

11 September 2001

In an attempt to keep pace with the impact of the internet revolution on traditional IP rights, the Indian courts have been expanding the traditional principles of trademark law to protect the rights that owners, such as Yahoo! and SAP AG, may claim in domain names.

28 August 2001

For the first time ever, a Japanese court has awarded damages in a domainname dispute. Whether the precedent in the <i>J-PHONE Case</i> will be followedin future is questionable, however, as Japanese law is based on the civil lawsystem.

03 July 2001

Australia's domain name allocation policy will undergo substantial changelater this year. One of the new requirements for registration - that there mustbe a close and substantial connection between the domain name and the licenceholder - has given rise to a number of concerns.

03 July 2001

A landmark decision involving Ikea sends a positive message to ownersof valuable brands wishing to extend their operations into China. Combined withChina's efforts to implement dispute resolution and enforcement procedures thatare in line with those of ICANN, this development is certain to encourage commercialactivity in the country. Connie Carnabuci and Minny Siu of Mallesons Stephen Jaquesin Hong Kong explain.

05 June 2001