Region: Asia-Pacific

The Intellectual Property Rights Branch of the Criminal Investigations Department has carried out the biggest raid yet in 2002. The crackdown came at a trade fair in Jurong West where counterfeit telecommunication equipment and accessories, CD-ROMs and VCDs worth a street value of S$200,000 were seized.

18 September 2002

The Tokyo District Court has ruled that System KJ, a Tokyo developer of equipment for personal computers and communication devices, may use its 'mp3.co.jp' domain name despite a claim against it by MP3.com Inc, an online music distributor based in California. The court ruled that System KJ obtained the name without bad faith.

10 September 2002

A UDRP complaint involving the domain name 'blackwaterrafting.com' has resulted in the removal of the BLACK WATER RAFTING trademark from the New Zealand trademarks register, highlighting the dangers of choosing marks with descriptive connotations.

22 July 2002

The body entrusted with the operation of Australia's country-code top-level domain has released for public comment a draft Code of Practice for the domain industry. auDA is attempting to define the boundaries of what is acceptable market conduct and ethical business practice for registrars and resellers.

12 July 2002

The Presidium of the Russian Federation Supreme Arbitration Court has arrived at the important conclusion that the '.ru' domain registry may be held liable in cases involving unlawful registration. It also ruled that the courts may order the registry to cancel a registration and transfer the domain name to the plaintiff-trademark owner.

04 July 2002

The managing body of Australia's country-code top-level domain, auDA, will launch a new, liberalized domain name system on July 1. The service will put an end to a longstanding monopoly in the '.com.au' registration market held by Melbourne IT.

21 June 2002

Australian-based Internet Name Group and Internet Registry have circumvented their suspension from registering domain names in the '.nz' domain space. Domainz, New Zealand's internet registry, had suspended the two companies following numerous complaints about their marketing campaigns.

17 June 2002

The administrator for Australia's country-code top-level domain has issued a public call for proposals for new second-level domains to be added to the six existing domains. The idea is to increase the availability of more appropriate domains from which prospective registrants may choose, such as '.law.au' for lawyers.

23 May 2002

auDA has suspended Internet Name Group's provisional accreditation following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's announcement that it is taking legal action against the company in the Federal Court. The case, in which the commission is seeking a permanent injunction to stop ING from engaging in alleged deceptive practices, will be heard on May 24.

20 May 2002

The Hong Kong Internet Registration Authority has taken control of administering the '.hk' domain from the Hong Kong Joint Universities Computer Centre. The organization is now the only registrar of the country-code top-level domain, but it expects to create a competitive environment over time.

16 May 2002