Policy

2. Mandatory Administrative Proceeding

       This Paragraph sets forth the type of disputes for which a domain name holder/registrant is required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding.  These proceedings will be administered by the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre ("ADNDRC").

• a. Applicable Disputes
         A registered domain name in the TLD will be subject to an administrative proceeding upon submission of a complaint that a third party (the "Complainant") asserts to ADNDRC, in compliance with the Rules, that the sunrise registration should be cancelled based on one or more of the following criteria:

  •        (i) at time the domain name was registered, the registrant did not hold a trademark registration which has been verified by the Trademark Clearinghouse and which meets the eligibility requirements for the .商标TLD; or          

  •        (ii) the domain name is not identical to the mark on which the registrant based for completing the Sunrise registration; or          

  •        (iii) the trademark registration on which the domain name registrant based in the Sunrise registration was not issued on or before the date specified in the Registration Agreement.          

  All complaints under the Policy must be submitted to ADNDRC on or before 31 January 2015 (UTC+8).      

   

• b. Decision
         The complaint will be decided by the Panelist who is appointed by ADNDRC from its own list.  The Panelist's decision of whether a complaint meets the conditions set forth in Paragraph 2(a) will be based solely on a prima facie examination of any trademark or service mark certificates submitted.  The Panelist's decision is of an administrative nature.  The Panelist shall be required to state reasons for its decision.            

• c. Initiation of Proceeding
         The Rules state the process for initiating and conducting a proceeding under the Policy.            

• d. HUYI’s and Registrar’s Involvement in Administrative Proceedings
         HUYI and registrars do not, and will not, participate in the administration or conduct of any proceeding before ADNDRC under the Policy.  In addition, the HUYI and registrars will not be liable as a result of any decisions rendered by ADNDRC.            

• e. Remedy
         The remedy available to a Complaint under this Policy shall be limited to requiring the cancellation of a domain name registration. The Cancelled domain name shall be returned to the pool of available names for registration.            

• f. Notification
         ADNDRC shall publish, in accordance with the Rules, any decision made under the Policy.            

• g. Implementation of the Decision
         Upon being notified of the Panel’s decision by ADNDRC, HUYI and the applicable registrar will implement the decision in accordance with and subject to paragraph 2 (i) of the Policy and the sunrise registration conditions set forth in the Registration Agreement.            

• h. Multiple Complaints
         In the event more than one complaint is submitted to ADNDRC regarding the same domain name, the following shall apply:

  •        (i) All such complaints will be queued in accordance with the date and time they were received by ADNDRC.  The first complaint to be filed will be granted priority, provided ADNDRC is satisfied that the complainant concerned paid the complainant’s fee in accordance with the Rules (the "Priority Complaint" and the "Priority Complainant").          

  •        (ii) If the Panelist finds that the complainant failed to prove at least one of the criteria as set forth in Paragraph 2(a) of the Policy, the proceeding of the Priority Complaint shall be dismissed. The second complainant in the queue will then become the Priority Complainant of the queue.          

  •        (iii) If the Panelist finds that at least one of the criteria as set forth in Paragraph 2(a) of the Policy is successfully proved by the Priority Complainant, the Priority Complaint will be granted. The domain name will be returned to the pool of available domain names in accordance with the HUYI's procedures for cancelled domain name registrations. The remaining complaint(s) in the queue shall not be accepted.          

   

• i. Availability of Court Proceedings
         The mandatory administrative proceeding requirements set forth in Paragraph 2(a) shall not prevent either party from submitting the dispute to a court of competent jurisdiction for independent resolution before such mandatory administrative proceeding is commenced or after such proceeding is concluded. If an Administrative Panel decides that the domain name registration should be canceled, HUYI shall wait for ten (10) business days after communication of the decision before implementing that decision, unless the registrant submits to HUYI (with a copy to the relevant office of ADNDRC) during that ten (10) day period official documentation (such as a copy of a complaint, file-stamped by the clerk of the court) that the registrant has commenced a lawsuit to preserve its claimed rights in a court of competent jurisdiction over the parties and the registered domain name. If such documentation is received no further action shall be taken until HUYI receives (i) evidence satisfactory to HUYI of an agreed resolution between the parties; (ii) evidence satisfactory to HUYI that registrant’s lawsuit has been dismissed or withdrawn; or (iii) a copy of an order from such court dismissing such lawsuit or otherwise directing disposition of the registered domain name.

3. Maintaining the Status Quo
       HUYI and the applicable registrar will not cancel, transfer, activate, deactivate, or otherwise change the status of any domain name registration subject to the Policy, except as provided in Paragraph 2 above.

4. Relation to Other Dispute Resolution Policies
       This Policy is in addition to and complementary with the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”), the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (“URS”) and any eligibility dispute resolution policies adopted by ICANN or HUYI.

5. Effect of Other Proceedings
       The administrative proceeding under the this Policy shall not prevent either party from submitting a dispute concerning the registered second level domain name in the TLD <.商标> to concurrent administrative proceedings or to a court of competent jurisdiction for independent resolution during a pending administrative proceeding under this Policy or after such proceeding is concluded. Upon notice of such other proceeding, the administrative panel may, in its sole discretion, suspend, terminate or continue the dispute resolution proceeding under this Policy.

6. Transfers of a Domain Name to another Holder
       A domain name involved in dispute resolution proceeding under this Policy will be locked against transfer to another domain name holder or another registrar until the completion of the proceedings. The contact details of the holder of a domain name, against which a complaint has been filed under this Policy, will be as shown in the registrar’s publicly available Whois database record for the relevant registrant. HUYI and the applicable registrar reserve the right to cancel any transfer of a domain name registration to another holder that is made in violation of this subparagraph.

7. Policy Modifications
       HUYI may modify the Policy from time to time, and the modified Policy shall be posted on HUYI’s and/or ADNDRC’s websites at least thirty (30) calendar days before it becomes effective. Unless the Policy has already been invoked by the submission of a complaint to ADNDRC, in which event the version of the Policy in effect at the time it was invoked will apply until the dispute is concluded, the modified Policy will be binding upon complainant and holder/registrant with respect to any sunrise dispute concerning a domain name under the TLD <.商标>, whether the dispute arose before, on or after the effective date of the change. In the event that holder/registrant objects to a change in the Policy, the sole remedy is to cancel the domain name registration, provided that holder/registrant will not be entitled to a refund of any fees paid in connection with such registration.

2. Your Representations.
       By applying to register a domain name within the TLD (a "Registered Name"), or by asking us to maintain or renew a Registered Name, you hereby represent and warrant to us that, to your knowledge, the registration of your Registered Name conforms to the eligibility requirements set forth in the TLD Charter (the "Eligibility Requirements").

3. Cancellations.
       We will cancel Registered Names upon our receipt of a decision of ADNDRC requiring such action in any administrative proceeding to which you were a party and which was conducted under this Policy or a later version of this Policy. (See Paragraph 5(e) below.) We may also cancel a Registered Name registration in accordance with the terms of your Registration Agreement or other legal requirements.

4. Mandatory Administrative Proceeding.
       This paragraph sets forth the types of disputes for which you are required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding under this Policy. These proceedings will be conducted before ADNDRC that has been approved by HUYI.

• (a) Applicable Disputes.
         You are required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding in the event that a third party (a "Complainant") asserts to ADNDRC, in compliance with the CEDRP Rules that your Registered Name does not meet the Eligibility Requirements; in the administrative proceeding, the Complainant must prove this element.

• (b) Registered Name Disputes.

  • (1) Evidence of Registration in Violation of the Eligibility Requirements.For the purposes of Paragraph 4(a), if the Panel of ADNDRC finds that your Registered Name does not meet the Eligibility Requirements, then such finding shall be evidence that your Registered Name violated the Eligibility Requirements. If the Panel finds that your Registered Name violated the Eligibility Requirements, the Panel shall exercise the remedy set forth in Section 5(d).

  • （2） How to Demonstrate Your Rights to and Legitimate Interests in the Registered Name in Responding to a Complaint.
           For the purposes of Paragraph 4(a), when you receive a complaint, you should refer to the CEDRP Rules in determining how your response should be prepared.

   

6. All Other Disputes and Litigation
       All other disputes between you and any party other than us regarding your Registered Name that are not brought pursuant to the mandatory administrative proceeding provisions of Paragraph 4 shall be resolved between you and such other party through any court, arbitration or other proceeding that may be available.

7. Our Involvement in Disputes
       We will not participate in any way in any dispute between you and any party other than us or the Registry regarding the registration and use of your Registered Name. You shall not name us as a party or otherwise include us in any such proceeding. In the event that we are named as a party in any such proceeding, we reserve the right to raise any and all defenses deemed appropriate, and to take any other action necessary to defend ourselves.

8. Maintaining the Status Quo
       We will not cancel, transfer, activate, deactivate, or otherwise change the status of any Registered Name under this Policy except as provided in Paragraph 3 above.

9. Changing Registrars During a Dispute
       You may not transfer your Registered Name to another registrar during a pending administrative proceeding brought pursuant to Paragraph 4 or for a period of fifteen (15) business days (as observed in the location of our principal place of business) after such proceeding is concluded.

10. Policy Modifications
       We reserve the right to modify this Policy at any time. We will post our revised Policy at ADNDRC’s website at least thirty (30) calendar days before it becomes effective. Unless this Policy has already been invoked by the submission of a complaint to ADNDRC, in which event the version of the Policy in effect at the time it was invoked will apply to you until the dispute is over, all such changes will be binding upon you with respect to any Registered Name dispute, whether the dispute arose before, on or after the effective date of our change. In the event that you object to a change in this Policy, your sole remedy is to cancel your Registered Name, provided that you will not be entitled to a refund of any fees you paid to us. The revised Policy will apply to you until you cancel your Registered Name.

“.商标” is the only generic top-level domain name that uses “商标” (the term for “Trademark in Simplified Chinese) as a domain extension on the World Wide Web. The generic top-level domain name uses the Chinese characters 商标 preceded by a dot and enclosed by double quotation marks as a uniform symbol of the top-level domain for marketing purposes, i.e. “.商标”, and thus setting it apart from conventional trademarks and avoiding unnecessary confusion in their use.

“.商标” consists of the name of a registered trademark or a trademark under pending application belonging to a trademark owner or trademark applicant from an eligible global jurisdiction and the suffix of the top-level domain name“.商标”. It may also consist of any combination of a trademark name and the country in which such trademark is registered, or a trademark name and industry class in respect of which such trademark is registered, with the suffix of “.商标”.

“.商标” is an innovative online trademark that combines “Internet domain name + trademark”. “.商标” is a new form of representation of trademarks. The dual identifying functions of a trademark and domain name enable the online “.商标” to share the same fundamental functions of any offline trademarks that distinguish goods, services, or the information sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others, making them easily identifiable by consumers. Meanwhile, the function of a ".商标" as a domain name enables a trademark to also serve as an internet address locator on the World Wide Web, which may be used for product packaging, decorative design, manuals, business cards, exhibitions and conventional media. Furthermore, it may be widely applied in online brand promotion, search engines, website links and optimization, e-mails, e-commerce, e-government administration, QR codes, mobile network and the Internet of Things, and other online applications.

  “.商标” registration policy follows the principle of “first come, first served”, and is neither limited by geography, country and the 45-class industries of conventional trademarks nor besieged by trademarks of the same name. Once successfully registered, the registrant will be the exclusive holder of such “.商标” in the world entitled to the exclusive right to use such “.商标” worldwide and protected by applicable law.

A trademark is a distinctive mark used for identifying goods and/or services or any specific individual, enterprise, or organization associated with such goods and/or services in business activities, which is an indispensable element and symbol in a commercial society. Trademarks originated from ancient times. By then, artisans printed their signatures or "marks" on their artworks or practical products as a sign to distinguish their goods or services from those of others and, thus, easy for recognition by consumers.

A trademark is expressed and represented in different forms. Originally, trademarks are visually represented through words, graphics, letters, numbers, and three-dimensional images on printed media. Along with the development of human society, people not only visually represent trademarks by printed media, but also added sound trademarks and scent trademarks, which are respectively represented by sound and scent.

Nowadays, we are entering into an information age of the Internet. The representation of brands is shifting from the offline mode to more of the online mode. The unrivaled superiority of the Internet media enabled it becoming one of the most important media channels of brand promotion. With the shift of focus of promotion media, the exposure of brands on the Internet, mobile Internet, and Internet of Things is increased significantly. Facing with the digital technology-based Internet, trademarks which take visualization, scent, and sound as their brand marks are dwarfed. To keep up with the pace of development of the Internet, the expression and representation of trademarks need to make appropriate change by combining with the Internet. Only by that can trademarks continue to service their brands in the Internet age.

Meanwhile, people need an authoritative symbol of the Internet trademark that is uniform with conventional trademarks on the Internet so that Internet users and consumers may search, identify, and distinguish the source of various goods and services on the Internet by virtue of such symbol, reduce the disorder and disturbance in recognition and use of trademarks caused by inconsistent trademark names used on or off the Internet, so as to minimize the loss resulted from buying fake goods and services or mistakenly logging on phishing websites. At the same time, rights holders of offline trademarks wish to have their trademark rights extended, expanded, and protected on the Internet, so as to realize a unified expression, management, use, and promotion of their trademarks both online and offline, prevent their trademarks from being infringed by faking and counterfeiting, and protect their business interests on the Internet.

In order to protect the interests of consumers, Internet users, merchants, and enterprises, create a healthy and sustainable environment of the Internet,  and make more outstanding representation of trademarks on the Internet, ".商标" is born at the right moment in the information age of the Internet, which is an online innovative trademark consisting of "Internet domain name + trademark", is a real, authoritative, and distinctive network symbol for Internet users and consumers to search, identify, and distinguish the source of any goods, services, or any individual, enterprise, or organization related to such goods or services, and is an intellectual property-symbol by which a trademark right holder may use, express, promote, manifest, and protect its trademark right on the World Wide Web and extend and expand its trademark right on the Internet with both the rights of trademarks and domain names.

Intellectual property consists of creative achievement and identifying symbol, among which a trademark falls into the scope of the latter. ".商标", which is a representation form of trademark by associating with a domain name on the Internet and which is different from trademarks, with features the functions conventional under the definition of conventional trademarks such as identifiableness, exclusivity, right, timeliness, and territoriality.

Identifiableness of ".商标"

According to the definition of trademark in Article 15 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Right (the "TRIPS Agreement") of the WTO, "any sign, or any combination of signs, capable of distinguishing the goods and services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings, shall be capable of constituting a trademark."

A domain name is a mark of online identity, while a trademark is a mark of intellectual property-identity. ".商标" takes generic top-level domain name as its carrier and that the suffix ".商标" is like the identifying sign of ® trademark. The sign of "商标" conveys the property of trademark to others and consumers visually and by its meaning. “.商标” is visible, usable, distinctive and identifiable. It has dual identifying functions of trademarks and domain names, enabling the virtual “.商标” to share the same fundamental functions of any conventional trademarks that distinguish goods, services, or the sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others, making them easily identifiable by consumers. Meanwhile, the function of a ".商标" as a domain name enables a trademark to become a generic address locator on the World Wide Web, which may be used for product packaging, decorative design, manuals, business cards, exhibitions and conventional media. Furthermore, it may be widely applied in online brand promotion, search engines, website links and optimization, e-mails, e-commerce, e-government administration, QR codes, mobile network and the Internet of Things  and other online applications.

Exclusivity of ".商标"

There cannot be two domain names which are exactly the same existing at the same time on the World Wide Web. A domain name relates to a single web address only. Once a “.商标" is registered successfully, its holder will exclusively hold such ".商标" in the world. At the same time, ".商标" is neither limited by geography, country and the 45-class industries of offline trademarks, nor besieged by trademarks of the same name. The holder of a ".商标" will have the indisputable exclusive right to use such ".商标" around the world. The holder is entitled to the use and revenue of the same, free from any interference of others, which is protected under laws.

Right of ".商标"

".商标" is available for the application, registration, and use by any trademark holder with a valid trademark certificate issued by any country and region included in the Madrid Protocol or by any applicant for trademarks under pending application. Once a ".商标" is registered successfully, its holder has the sole and exclusive domain name right around the world. As the registrant of a ".商标” they must be a trademark right holder, the registrant may express, promote, manifest, and protect its trademark on the World Wide Web in the form of ".商标", which is an extension and expansion of its trademark right on the Internet. Therefore, a ".商标" has both the trademark right and the domain name right. Meanwhile, the right of a ".商标" changes with the trademark right. The right of a ".商标" become invalid along with the invalidity of its corresponding trademark right.

Like a trademark, the ".商标" also functions to identify goods or services. The holder of a ".商标" may use its ".商标" and gain compensation by licensing and transferring the same. The features of global exclusivity and direct direction of a domain name to website ensure that any ".商标" cannot be used without permission from its holder.

Timeliness of ".商标"

Like an offline trademark, the ".商标" also holds time limitations. The registration of ".商标" is subject to renewal system rather than life-long system. Upon the expiry of registration term, the holder of any ".商标" should pay the corresponding registration fees for renewal, if required; otherwise, the ".商标" registration will be canceled.

Territoriality of ".商标"

As the Internet is without borders, there is no limitation on the territory in terms of its registration and use. Any trademark right holder in the world may register and use the ".商标" in the principle of "first come, first served". The registration rules of a ".商标" require that a ".商标" domain name should be related to a specific trademark right. If the domain name contains any name of a country or region (for instance, "ChineseGreatWall.商标"), the registrant should have the trademark right under the jurisdiction of such territory. It ensures that a ".商标" domain name can fully represent the territory of the related trademark right, while containing the name of a specific territory.

A ".商标" and its related trademark right shares the same holder that effectively ensures the authenticity, accuracy, and creditability of the information of products and services furnished by the registrant of the ".商标" on the Internet, greatly helps consumers and users identify the information of goods and services on the Internet based on the ".商标", reduce infringement upon brand trademarks on the Internet, eliminate confusion caused by the inconsistency between brand trademarks online and offline, and minimize consumers’ risk of being cheated or buying fake goods resulting from inability to identify real brand information, so as to effectively protect the interests of individuals, sellers, enterprises, producers, and organizations regarding brand trademarks.

The use of ".商标" may enhance consumers and users' impression and memory of brand trademarks, strengthen the recognition degree, and improve the reputation and goodwill of brand trademarks. ".商标" functions actively in directing consumers' preference to branded goods.

A ".商标" gives trademarks more space for use and representation, making trademarks vigorous, enabling even faster dissemination and wider scope of brand influence, representing the image, quality, and goodwill of brand goods and services on the Internet, which takes a predominant role and position in the commercial society of the Internet age. Through repeated use by consumers and long-term application and promotion by its holder, ".商标" has gradually consolidated influence of brand on the Internet to gain more popularity and reputation and to lay down a solid foundation for goods and services to tap into the global market. ".商标" becomes the most frequent network mark and sign representing brands on the Internet, which is a new element of a brand. Meanwhile, the emergence of ".商标" has a far-fetching influence and significance in boosting intellectual property right in the Internet age, having an active function in the healthy and sustainable development of the Internet. Based on such functions, usages, right, and value and significance of its existence, a ".商标" is therefore deemed as a trademark on the Internet, which is a sign of reputation of any online brand of any individuals, enterprises, or organizations in the Internet information age.

According to the Tokyo Convention 1992 of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property ("AIPPI"), intellectual property rights consist of "achievement right" and "right of identifying signs".

".商标" is protected by intellectual property laws as dual identifying signs, as it represents creative achievement on the one hand, and meets the requirement of preventing unfair competition on the other hand.

“.商标” is the only generic top-level domain name that uses “商标” as a suffix on the World Wide Web. ".商标" is like the identifying sign of ® representing trademarks. The sign of "商标" conveys the property of trademark to others and consumers visually and by its meaning. “.商标” is a new form of representation of trademarks. The dual identifying functions of trademark and domain name enable it to share the same fundamental functions of any elements (words, numbers, graphics, colors, scents and sound) qualified to become a trademark, i.e. distinguishing goods, services, or the information sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others, making them easily identifiable by consumers.  

According to the definition of trademark in Article 15 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Right (the "TRIPS Agreement") of the WTO, "any sign, or any combination of signs, capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings, shall be capable of constituting a trademark."

In relevant papers of the World Intellectual Property Organization, exclusivity, timeliness, and territoriality were determined as features of intellectual property right, which are exactly contained in the ".商标". From the perspective of exclusivity, ".商标", as a mark and sign of the domain name holder on the Internet, is unique worldwide and there are no two exact instances of the same. The fundamental features of domain names decide the indisputable exclusivity of ".商标", which can only be used by the right holder (holder of the ".商标") on the Internet. Any other person or organization cannot use such domain name. From the perspective of timeliness, ".商标" needs to be renewed every year; otherwise, it will be canceled. From the perspective of territoriality, the territory of ".商标" is expressed as the "territory" on the Internet, other than that of other conventional types of intellectual property rights in the real world. Along with execution of a great many international conventions and bilateral treaties protecting intellectual property rights in more than a century, the protection on intellectual property rights, however, is not limited to domestic laws confined by borders, but expanding globally.

At the same time, ".商标" is available for the application, registration, and use by any trademark holder with a valid trademark certificate issued by any country and region in the world or by any applicant for trademark under pending application. Once a ".商标" is registered successfully, its holder has the sole and exclusive domain name right around the world. As the registrant of a ".商标” must be a trademark right holder, the registrant may express, promote, manifest, and protect its trademark on the World Wide Web in the form of ".商标", which is an extension and expansion of its trademark right on the Internet. The right of a ".商标" changes with the trademark right. The right of a ".商标" becomes invalid along with the invalidity of its corresponding trademark right. Meanwhile, the holder of a ".商标" may use its ".商标" and gain compensation by licensing and transferring the same.

Thanks to the visible, usable, distinctive and identifiable functions of ".商标", it enables the online ".商标" to share the same fundamental functions of any offline trademarks that distinguish goods, services, or the sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others, making them easily identifiable by consumers. Meanwhile, “.商标” enables a trademark to become a generic address locator on the World Wide Web, which may be used for product packaging, decorative design, manuals, business cards, exhibitions and conventional media. Furthermore, it may be widely applied in online brand promotion, search engines, website links and optimization, e-mails, e-commerce, e-government administration, QR codes, mobile network and the Internet of Things, and other online applications.

A ".商标" gives trademarks more space for use and representation, making trademarks vigorous, enabling even faster dissemination and wider scope of brand influence, representing the image, quality, and goodwill of brand goods and services on the Internet, which takes a predominant role and position in the commercial society of the Internet age. Through repeated use by consumers and long-term application and promotion by its holder, ".商标" has gradually consolidated influence of brand on the Internet to gain more popularity and reputation and to lay down a solid foundation for goods and services to tap onto the global market. ".商标" becomes the most frequent network mark and sign representing brands on the Internet, which is a new element of a brand.

Ascribing to functions of identifying signs and representing right of trademark, the domain name enables ".商标" to be eligible both trademark right and domain name right, and to be fully capable of being the most authoritative global sign of an online trademark. Therefore, it is defined as a new generation of innovative intellectual property right in the information age of the Internet.

There are many similarities between a ".商标" and a trademark, which are as below:
First, both ".商标" and trademarks are important elements, marks, and signs of any brand of any individual, enterprise, or organization. ".商标" is deemed as an online mark on the Internet and trademarks are more of a conventional business mark. Both are business marks, with identifying functions, which are effective instruments in market;
Second, both ".商标" and trademarks serve brands and create value for brands, which are intangible assets;
Third, the composing elements of ".商标" are associated with those of a trademark;
Fourth, both ".商标" and trademarks are subject to a registration system and follow the principle of "first come, first served";
Fifth, both ".商标" and trademarks are of the same holder;
Sixth, both ".商标" and trademarks are authentic, reliable, and authoritative;
Seventh, a ".商标" is directed to the webpage information related to the trademark only;
Eighth, both ".商标" and trademarks keep the consistency of both online and offline brand trademarks;
Ninth, both ".商标" and trademarks direct consumers in buying goods or services from enterprises, affecting the popularity and reputation of individual, enterprise, or organization, quality and pricing of products and services, which are exploring the same potential competitiveness and profitability in the market;
Tenth, as far as consumers are concerned, both ".商标" and trademarks are the guarantee to quality and credit standing, which reduce the buying cost and risk to consumers;
Eleventh, both ".商标" and trademarks are helpful for products and services entering into both online and offline markets in tandem and helpful to improve consumers' recognition of the quality of both branded products and services, so as to creating higher additional value of such products and services.

Simultaneously, there are also differences between a ".商标" and a trademark:
First, a ".商标" can be used in any country and region in the world, any industry and premise, but there are restrictions of country, region, industry, and peculiarity on the use of trademarks;
Second, a ".商标" and trademarks are different in terms of their application territories, i.e. the former may be used around the world, while the letter may be used in specific territories only;
Third, ".商标" is not limited by similarity, while trademarks are limited by similarity;
Fourth, the registration principles and obtaining channels of a ".商标" are different from those of a trademark;
Fifth, a ".商标" is held by one registrant only, while a trademark may be held by many registrants in different regions;
Sixth, a ".商标" is able to verify the authenticity of a trademark, but a trademark is unable to do so for a ".商标";
Seventh, a ".商标" is of both the trademark rights and the domain name rights, while a trademark is of trademark right only;
Eighth, restriction of the use of partial trademarks (tobacco trademarks and well-known trademarks) are not applicable to a ".商标";
Ninth, in general, there is no restriction on the extended registration of a ".商标" by using a trademark plus registered place or class of the trademark, but there is restriction on the territory and class of registration of a trademark;
Tenth, the feature of ".商标" as a domain name enables it not being faked or misused, but it is frequent for trademarks.

In the Internet information age, the value of conventional trademarks are more embodied by trademark right, but ".商标" resolves issues of protection, representation, application, and use of branded trademarks on the Internet much more prominently. A ".商标" is the combination of a trademark and a domain name. A ".商标" and a trademark are not exchangeable. A ".商标" upgrades the use and value of a trademark. A".商标" and a trademark facilitate and complement each other.

".商标" enables a new representation form for trademarks in the Internet information age, which is an innovative intellectual property symbol that combines a domain name on the World Wide Web and a trademark. A ".商标" gives a trademark even bigger space to use and represent, invigorating trademark, increasing its application effect, enabling faster dissemination of trademark and wider influence of brand, highlighting trademark rights in a stronger way, improving the right protection of trademarks, and effectively exalting brand value, as well as continuing the value, function, and significance of trademark in the Internet information age.

Earlier trademarks in human society comprised of words, graphics, letters, numbers, three-dimensional signs, color combination, and any combination of the foregoing elements plus ® trademark sign and symbol, which is also called conventional trademarks. With the development of human beings, sound and scent as carriers were added to represent trademarks.

As entering into the Internet information age, there emerges an innovative trademark representation form - ".商标", which takes a generic top-level domain name as the carrier and combines trademark rights on the Internet. ".商标" is only available for registration by holders of conventional trademarks consisting of words, letters, and numbers, as well as combination of the foregoing elements. At the same time, it uses the Chinese characters 商标 preceded by a dot and enclosed by double quotation marks as a uniform symbol of a top-level domain, i.e. “.商标”, and thus setting it apart from conventional trademarks and avoiding unnecessary confusion in their use.

Intellectual property consists of creative achievement and identifying symbol, among which the ".商标" falls into the scope of the latter. Like a trademark sign and symbol ® of conventional trademarks, a".商标" is one of non-conventional trademarks as sound trademarks and scent trademarks, which is a representation form of trademark by associating with a domain name on the Internet, and which is different from conventional trademarks, featuring the functions in the definition of conventional trademarks such as distinctiveness, peculiarity, identifiableness, exclusivity, right, timeliness, and territoriality., with brand value.

Both sound trademark and scent trademark feature their invisibility. In addition to visual and identifying functions of conventional trademarks, a ".商标" can direct to the website of its brand trademark by entering it in any browser to obtain brand and service information. It means that a ".商标" may be used as the "business card" trademark of any individual, enterprise, or organization. For instance, when we see "顺丰.商标", we will immediately associate it with the enterprise, SF Express. By seeing the suffix ".商标", we may know it is the Chinese trademark domain name linking to the online information of SF Express. By "顺丰.商标", users may log on the real official website of SF Express.

".商标" has become an international generic addressing sign with rights of trademark and domain name for consumers and the Internet users to search, identify, and distinguish goods, services, or the sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others. The use of ".商标" may enhance consumers and users' impression and memory of brand trademarks, strengthen the recognition degree, and improve the reputation and goodwill of brand trademarks. ".商标" has an active role in directing consumers in buying branded goods and is able to reduce the disorder and confusion in recognition and use of trademarks caused by inconsistent trademark names used on or off the Internet, so as to minimize the loss resulted from buying fake goods and services or mistakenly logging on phishing websites.

".商标" will expand the scope of use and enrich representation of conventional trademarks; it will speed up brand communication and extend the reach of brand influence; it will enhance right protection for conventional brands and trademark right manifestation; as a result, it renews the vitality of conventional trademarks by maintaining the value and relevance of their continued existence.

".商标" pioneered the in-depth integration of the Internet and intellectual property right and upgraded the use and value of trademarks, which, following visual trademarks, sound trademarks, and scent trademarks, is another innovative representation of trademarks in the history of intellectual property right.

The word "brand" derived from ancient Norwegian word "brandr", which is translated as “mark” in Chinese. During that time, the western nomadic shepherds made different marks on their horse back, in order to identify their property. It was the original naming method for goods and, at the same time, also the origin of modern concept of brand.

Trademark is a composing element of a brand, which is the mark and name of such brand. The legal protection on brands is realized by trademark rights. Brand is the basis on which consumers select goods. Compared to products without a brand, more consumers would give their reliance on those with a brand. A trademark mainly serves its brand and represents the image of its brand. Therefore, a trademark is a distinctive mark used for identifying goods and/or services or any specific person, enterprise, or organization associated with such goods and/or services in business activities, which is an indispensable element and symbol in a commercial society. The use of ".商标" may enhance consumers and users' impression and memory of brand trademarks, strengthen the recognition degree, and improve the reputation and goodwill of brand trademarks. ".商标" functions actively in directing consumers' preference to branded goods, while urging producers and distributors to guarantee quality of their goods and services and to protect reputation of their trademarks.

With the development and progress of human society, the representation of trademarks has been adapting to the development of society. Trademark is represented and expressed in different forms. Originally, trademarks are visually represented through words, graphics, letters, numbers, and three-dimensional images on printed media. Along with the development of human society, people not only visually represent trademarks by printed media, but also added sound trademark and scent trademark, which are respectively represented by sound and scent.

Nowadays, the Internet information age emerges and the representation of brand has been gradually shifting from offline mode to online mode. Thanks to the unrivaled superiority, the Internet media has become one of the most important media channels in promoting brands. With the shifting of focus of promotion media and the increasing exposure of brands on the Internet, mobile Internet, and Internet of Things, the performance of trademark, as sign of a brand, becomes pale when facing the digital technology-based Internet. Therefore, the expression and representation of trademarks should keep in pace with development of the Internet, making corresponding changes in tandem with the Internet. Only by that can trademarks continue to serve brands in the information age of the Internet.

“.商标” is an innovative online trademark that combines “Internet domain name + trademark”. By taking domain name as the carrier, “.商标” finds a new form of representation of trademarks in the information age of the Internet. The dual identifying functions of trademark and domain name enable the online “.商标” to share the same fundamental functions of any offline trademarks that distinguish goods, services, or the sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others, making them easily identifiable by consumers. Meanwhile, the function of a ".商标" as a domain name enables a trademark to become a generic address locator on the World Wide Web, which may be used for product packaging, decorative design, manuals, business cards, exhibitions and conventional media. Furthermore, it may be widely applied in online brand promotion, search engines, website links and optimization, e-mails, e-commerce, e-government administration, QR codes, mobile network and the Internet of Things, and other online applications.

A ".商标" gives trademarks more space for use and representation, making trademarks vigorous, enabling even faster dissemination and wider scope of brand influence, representing the image, quality, and goodwill of brand goods and services on the Internet, which takes a predominant role and position in the commercial society of the Internet age. Through repeated use by consumers and long-term application and promotion by its holder, ".商标" has gradually consolidated influence of brand on the Internet to gain more popularity and reputation and to lay down a solid foundation for goods and services to tap onto the global market. ".商标" becomes the most frequent network mark and sign representing brands on the Internet, which is a new element of a brand.

Trademark registration is subject to application filings in different countries or regions on different goods under different classes. Upon successful registration of a trademark, protection on the exclusive right to such trademark is limited to the country or region where it was registered and its registered goods. No protection will be extended outside of such country and region and beyond the registered goods.

As the Internet is without borders, the ".商标" is a new representation form of trademark rights on the Internet, eligible an independent rights worldwide. ".商标" follows the principle of "first come, first served", neither limited by territory, country, and 45-class industries of offline trademarks, nor besieged by trademarks of the same name. Once successfully registered, the registrant will be the exclusive holder of such “.商标”in the world entitled to the exclusive right to use such “.商标” worldwide and protected by applicable law.

In registering a ".商标", the applicant should file an application with the Domain Name Registry of ".商标". After successful registration, the applicant may have the right related to the registered ".商标". The applicant who has the trademark without registering ".商标" will lose its right related to a ".商标".

As a distinctive and identifiable sign of online trademark for distinguishing goods, services, or the sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others, ".商标" of the same name as trademark will speed up the representation of trademark right and manifest the same in a more direct way, which is an extension, expansion and the best protection of trademark right on the Internet. The practicability of ".商标" and value of brand as intangible assets will increase with increasing application of, and reliance on, the Internet by all trades.

As a generic top-level domain name, ".商标" needs to provide service for the Internet users worldwide. Due to the exclusive registration nature of domain names, the same ".商标" may only be registered and used by the same trademark holder. The registration rules of ".商标" require that a domain name registrant may only register and use a ".商标" when it holds a lawful right to a trademark. However, trademarks are registered and administered by different countries and in accordance with different classes of goods and there are many trademarks of completely identical word signs in the world. Therefore, ".商标" adopts the principle of "first come, first served" among registrants satisfying the rules. It complies with the features of all domain names, which are a type of limited naming resource of the Internet address, and which is also the fairest solution for all holders of trademarks sharing the same word signs.

".商标" is a generic top-level domain established with approval of the ICANN (Internet Corporation of Assigned Name and Numbers). The ".商标" Domain Registry is the registration administrative agency (hereinafter, "Domain Name Registry") authorized by the ICANN, having the right to lawfully operate, maintain, and manage the top-level domain ".商标" worldwide. The registration rules and operation and management system of ".商标" are formulated by the Domain Name Registry under the general policies of the ICANN according to the development of the top-level domain ".商标".

".商标" is a generic top-level domain name approved by the ICANN granting it global root access and resolution and also certified by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China for the operation of top-level domain from within the territory of the People’s Republic of China. ".商标" is the only generic top-level domain that takes "商标" as its suffix, providing the Internet addressing entry for trademark holder from all over word to protect, express, promote, as well as manifest their trademark rights on the Internet. The registration rules for the top-level domain ".商标" requires complete relevance of a registration and use of the domain name ".商标" to its trademark right.  The Registry has established a stringent examination and approval system and has been working in tandem with domain registrars gloabally to verify the authenticity of each trademark right and the real name of each domain name registrant. It ensures that each ".商标" corresponds to a real offline trademark right and thus a one-to-one relationship is established between the registration and designation of each ".商标" and the trademark of a real offline brand trademark holder. They also highlight the authenticity and authority of a ".商标",

The domain name ".TM" is a country code top-level domain of Turkmenistan. According to the codes of countries and regions in ISO3166, the abbreviation of Turkmenistan and that of trademark in registration are coincided. Because of huge demand of trademark right holders for using domain names with distinctive identities on the Internet, a UK-based business company made agreement with relevant government authorities of Turkmenistan to commercialize the domain name. Since domestic Internet users in Turkmenistan are also using the top-level domain, there is no requirement for the registration qualification for the domain name ".TM", which follows the principle of "first come, first served". Therefore, ".TM" cannot be as an exclusive top-level domain of any trademark right holder in terms of its registration and use rules, except that the suffix sounds like having some associations with trademarks.

The ".商标" Domain Name Registry is the registration administrative agency in charge of the generic top-level domain name ".商标" as approved by the ICANN, having the right to lawfully operate, maintain, and manage the top-level domain ".商标" worldwide. The major functions of the Domain Name Registry of ".商标" are to formulate registration rules for the top-level domain ".商标", operate and manage corresponding domain name systems, maintain domain name database, authorize and supervise domain name registration service providers in the provision of domain name registration service, and establish resolution for dispute over ".商标" and nominate dispute settlement institutions, as well as examine and approve applications for registering domain names under registration rules for ".商标".

In China, the administrative approval obtained from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China by the Domain Name ".商标" Registry means that the top-level domain name ".商标" was officially included into the domain name administration system of China. It is authorized to operate the top-level domain name ".商标" from within the territory of China. Registrants of “.商标” domains wishing to use their domains within China should apply for record filing of the website with the competent authorities for domestic website users of ".商标" according to relevant provisions regarding the administration on the Internet domain name in China.

  Entry
On May 22, 2014, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICAANN) officially included ".商标" into the root domain name system of the World Wide Web. It marks official inclusion of ".商标" into the Domain Name System of the World Wide Web.

  Sunrise Registration Period
From September 1 to October 1, 2014, the Sunrise registration service had been available for the top-level domain ".商标".

  Priority Registration Period
From October 9 to November 30, 2014, the prior registration service had been available for the top-level domain ".商标".

  General Availability Registration Period
From January 8, 2015, the General Availability period for the top-level domain ".商标" began.

  Inclusion of ".商标" into China's Domain Name System
On January 8, 2015, the top-level domain name ".商标" was officially included into domain name administration system of China.
Part II: Value of ".商标"

Nowadays, human beings are entering into the Internet information age. Domain names are the backbone of the Internet. Without domain names, the World Wide Web cannot be linked up effectively. The business role and existing significance of domain name is far beyond its technical significance. As the basic tool for individuals, enterprises, and organizations to participate in the Internet activities, domain name links up website information of such individuals, enterprises, or organizations, representing the names and addresses of the same on the Internet and comprehensively reflecting the goods, services, image, and goodwill of enterprises, which is a part of world intellectual property right and protected by laws.

There are a lot in common between a domain name and a trademark. When registering a domain name, people prefer to register the domain name sharing the same name with their trademarks. Within their respective realms, both domain name and trademark feature their exclusivity and right. “.商标” is the only generic top-level domain name that uses “商标” as a suffix on the World Wide Web. “.商标” is an innovative online intellectual-property symbol that combines “Internet domain name + trademark”.

There are numerous words, graphics, and signs in the world. If those words, graphics, and signs are without trademark sign and symbol ®, they are pure words, graphics, and signs only and cannot clearly express that they are trademarks, and do not have the function of manifesting trademark interests effectively. Therefore, they are not protected for their exclusivity and have high risk in promoting brands.

At the same time, although there are many top-level domains in different languages on the World Wide Web, there is only top-level domain that takes "商标" in Chinese as its suffix on the World Wide Web. ".商标" in Chinese are clear in its meaning, indicating that the registered domain name is a trademark. Like trademark sign and symbol ® in conventional trademarks, a ".商标" is able to express its trademark feature to others on the World Wide Web and effectively manifest the trademark interest of the registration of the ".商标". Upon the successful registration, the registrant will be the exclusive legitimate holder of such ".商标" in the world and, thus, protected by laws.

The significance of existence of ".商标" is to enable right holder of any branded trademark in any country in the world to protect, express, promote, and manifest their trademark rights on the World Wide Web via ".商标" and facilitate the Internet users and consumers to identify and search the information source of goods and services of real brands or significant marks of any individual, enterprise, or organization associated with such goods and services. Therefore, ".商标" is the only top-level domain name representing trademark on the World Wide Web.

A domain name without the suffix ".商标" is merely a domain name representing an industry or industry nature, other than a trademark. Therefore, the loss of ".商标" is like the loss of trademark sign and symbol ®, which will lead to a loss of the opportunity of branded trademarks to protect, express, promote, and manifest their trademark interests on the World Wide Web.

A ".商标" with branded trademark name is like the trademark sign and symbol ®, by which consumers and the Internet users may clearly identify that it is a domain name of trademark nature in the practice.

".商标" enables a new representation form of trademark in the Internet information age. A ".商标" gives a trademark more space for the use and representation, invigorating the trademark, increasing its application effect, enabling faster communication of trademark and wider influence of brand, manifesting trademark in a stronger way, and improving the right protection of trademark, which is an extension and expansion of trademark right on the Internet, realizing the consistent expression, management, use, and promotion of brands, online and offline, and preventing trademark from being faked and counterfeited on the Internet, so as to protect business interests of trademark right holders on the Internet.

".商标" serves its brand and represents the image of its brand, which is a new composing element of brand, accounting for an important role and position in the brand promotion and application. The use of the suffix domain name ".商标" with trademark name will increase the confidence of consumers and users in visiting the domain name and attract more visits for the website, while strengthening consumers and users' impression and memory of a brand and improve the reputation and popularity of the brand. This will function actively in directing consumers' preference to branded goods, while urge producers and distributors to guarantee quality of their goods and services and to protect reputation of their trademarks.

Therefore, ".商标" is not only used as a domain name directing to a website, but also an important mark, name, and symbol of a brand on the Internet, symbol of online identity of the brand, and an asset with high added value showcasing brand strengths on the Internet and winning more trust and business opportunities. Therefore, ".商标" is deemed as an important Internet resource that mostly deserving registration, use, and investment on the Internet.

“.商标” is an innovative online intellectual-property symbol that combines “Internet domain name + trademark”. ".商标" is a new representation form of trademarks. “.商标” is a new form of representation of trademarks. The dual identifying functions of trademark and domain name enable the online “.商标”to share the same fundamental functions of any offline trademarks that distinguish goods, services, or the information sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others, making them easily identifiable by consumers. Meanwhile, the function of a ".商标" as a domain name enables a trademark to become a generic address locator on the World Wide Web.

The registration rules for the top-level domain ".商标" requires complete relevance of a registration and use of the domain name ".商标" to its trademark right. Stringent registration rules were formulated for ".商标". The registrant of a domain name and registered word of such domain name will be examined by a professional examination and approval team in tandem with domain name registration service providers.

These measures ensure that (1) each registrant of a ".商标" must be the real trademark holder and the designation scope of registered word of a ".商标" must not exceed the scope of trademark right in its possession; (2) the valid term of a ".商标" must be consistent with that of the trademark right held by the registrant; (3) the information and content contained in a website to which a ".商标" directs must be consistent with the designation word of a ".商标"; (4) ".商标" will be suspended from use, when the trademark right held by the registrant  of the ".商标" becomes invalid; (5) the Domain Name Registry of ".商标" established a specific supervision team for the use of domain name to supervise and receive complaints filed by the public against the use of ".商标", so as to ensure the consistency between the use of ".商标" and the information of the registrant's trademark; and (6) the Domain Name Registry of ".商标" established an independent dispute settlement mechanism for ".商标" and entrusted a third party institution - Asia Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre as its dispute settlement institution to be in charge of the examination, approval, and handling of disputes over registration qualifications and other registration and use issues.

As a matter of fact, it becomes global epidemic that the false domain name registration information is relatively high on the Internet. Trademarks with high reputation are prone to become the target of domain name infringement. False domain names provide facilities for perpetrators in conducting illegal acts and crimes on the Internet. The false, inaccurate, and incomplete registration information of domain name not only is adverse to identify real websites from false ones by general Internet users, but also becomes the reason for the Internet users not trusting and using domain names. At the same time, it is adverse to competent authorities in dealing with irregularities. Information and property security of the Internet users are faced with huge threat that significantly impedes healthy development of the Internet.

In an attitude of being responsible for the society, consumers, Internet users, and registrants, the Domain Name Registry of ".商标" has formulated prudent registration rules for the authoritative ".商标" with dual identifying function and dual rights, which is an online branded mark representing goods and services, to ensure that each registrant of the ".商标" and registration information are real, accurate, and creditable. At the same time, right holders of offline trademarks wish to have their trademark rights extended, expanded, and protected on the Internet, so as to realize a unified expression, management, use, and promotion of their trademarks both online and offline, prevent their trademarks from being infringed by faking and counterfeiting, and protect their business interests on the Internet.

Meanwhile, these measures also provide real, accurate, and creditable ".商标" for the Internet users and consumers to search, identify, and distinguish the real information source of various branded goods and services, reduce the disorder and confusion in recognition and use of trademarks caused by inconsistent trademark names used on or off the Internet, so as to minimize the loss resulted from buying fake goods and services or mistakenly logging on phishing websites.

".商标" has effectively resolved the chronic and prevalent problems such as "Internet fraud" and "false operation" attributable to the inconsistency of the holder of online trademark and offline domain name and certain social issues, maintained the interests of consumers, Internet users, merchants, and enterprises, and created a credible, healthy and sustainable environment for the Internet.

According to the registration rules, ".商标" is limited to registered trademark or trademark under pending application held by the trademark right holders from all over the world, or trademark name plus the country where the trademark is registered, or trademark name plus the combination of registered class of industry, goods, and services. ".商标" takes the generic top-level domain name as its carrier, which has clear meaning and is able to convey the properties of trademark to others and consumers, indicating that the registered domain name is a trademark name. ".商标" is like domain names with the identifying sign and symbol ® on the World Wide Web. As prescribed in the requirements on use of a ".商标", a ".商标" only directs to the webpage information regarding the trademark. Meanwhile, a ".商标" may be used for various advertising media, products, and product packaging, introductory and advertising materials, exhibition, and other market activities. As a distinctive and identifiable sign of online trademark for distinguishing goods, services, or the sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others, a ".商标" is the extension and expansion of the trademark right on the Internet. Therefore, the use of a ".商标" means to express and manifest the trademark right, which becomes a solid evidence of trademark use and right protection.

As prescribed in Article 48 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, "for the purpose hereof, the use of a trademark shall include the use of the trademark on goods, packaging or container, and transaction instrument of goods, or use of the trademark for advertising, promotion, exhibition, and other business activities, for the purpose of identifying the source of goods." In addition, it is also explicitly prescribed in Article 49 of the Trademark Law that any entity or individual may file an application with the Trademark Office for canceling a registered trademark that has become a generic name of the goods on which it was approved to use or has not been used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons." Therefore, how to provide solid evidence in disputes over trademark becomes concerned by many trademark right holders.

Legal experts pointed out that a registered ".商标" without resolution, promotion, and use cannot serve as the evidence of use. A registered ".商标", however, can serve as the evidence of use, if it was resolved to the website containing a company's products or services and used on the Internet for promotion, in that a ".商标" relates to the right of a registered trademark. The advertisement, promotion, and use of a ".商标" can serve as the evidence of use.

Nowadays, as the Internet economy has become the momentum driving the economic development of all countries in the world, the development and upgrade of any enterprise are inevitably based on the Internet under the trends of "Internet + conventional enterprises". Newly emerged Internet media have become the mainstream of the age and the unrivaled superiority of Internet media has become an import media channel in promoting enterprise brands. With the shifting of focus of promotion media, trademarks, as branded marks frequently used by enterprises, are dwarfed by the digital technology-based Internet. The use of enterprise branded trademark should change with the development of the Internet.

“.商标” is an innovative online intellectual-property symbol that combines “Internet domain name + trademark”. At the same time, right holders of offline trademarks wish to have their trademark rights extended, expanded, and protected on the Internet, so as to realize a unified expression, management, use, and promotion of their trademarks both online and offline, prevent their trademarks from being infringed by faking and counterfeiting, and protect their business interests on the Internet.

At the same time, ".商标" has become a generic addressing identity for consumers and users to search, identify, and distinguish the information source of goods and services on the World Wide Web. Meanwhile, “.商标” enables a trademark to become a generic address locator on the World Wide Web, which may be used for product packaging, decorative design, manuals, business cards, exhibitions and conventional media. Furthermore, it may be widely applied in online brand promotion, search engines, website links and optimization, e-mails, e-commerce, e-government administration, QR codes, mobile network and the Internet of Things, and other online applications. In the e-commerce, and other Internet applications, ".商标" has become a frequent and important brand mark on the Internet in the Internet age. The frequent promotion and use of ".商标" by enterprise may enhance consumers and users' impression and memory of enterprise brands, strengthen the brand recognition degree, and improve the reputation and goodwill of enterprises.

It can be seen that a ".商标" has an important role and position in the promotion and application of enterprise brands. It gives trademark more space for the use and representation, invigorating the trademark of an enterprise, increasing its application effect, enabling faster communication of trademark and wider influence of brand, manifesting trademark in a stronger way, and improving the right protection of trademark.

An enterprise brand is built day after day by its entrepreneur with tremendous investment and efforts. Each enterprise considers its branded trademark as its life. Having an authoritative and easy-to-promote enterprise brand ".商标" is the first step to its success on the World Wide Web. ".商标" is not only a mark of enterprise to distinguishing itself from other similar products, but also an asset with high added value in the brand construction of an enterprise. Therefore, a ".商标" is an important sign or symbol of enterprise brand.

Nowadays, it has become the basic business activity of each enterprise that ".商标", as a branded mark of enterprise on the Internet, must be registered and protected. The protection of an enterprise on its own brands should not be limited to the protection on conventional trademarks only. ".商标", which is deemed as an online trademark of enterprise, should also be included into the overall strategy of intellectual property right of the enterprise in order to operate and manage all intangible assets of the enterprise in a unified manner so that the effective combination of online ".商标" and offline trademark of the enterprise may serve the enterprise brands and enable the enterprise brand exerting its own value and function in order to protect the sustainable development of the enterprise.

As the basic tool for individuals, enterprises, or organizations to participate in the Internet activities, domain name links up website information of such individuals, enterprises, or organizations, representing the online names and addresses of the same on the Internet and comprehensively reflecting the goods, services, image, and goodwill of enterprises.

There are a lot in common between a domain name and a trademark. When registering a domain name, people prefer to register the domain name sharing the same name with their trademarks. Both domain name and trademark are of exclusivity and right in their respective realm. “.商标” is the only generic top-level domain name that uses “商标” as a suffix on the World Wide Web. “.商标” is an innovative online trademark that combines “Internet domain name + trademark”. A ".商标" with branded trademark name is like the trademark sign and symbol ®, by which consumers and the Internet users may clearly identify that it is a domain name of trademark nature in the practice.

".商标" is a new composing element of brand, accounting for an important role and position in the brand promotion and application. The use of the suffix domain name ".商标" with trademark name will increase the confidence of consumers and users in visiting the domain name and attract more visits for the website, while strengthening consumers and users' impression and memory of a brand and improve the reputation and popularity of the brand. This will functions actively in directing consumers' preference to branded goods, while urge producers and distributors to guarantee quality of their goods and services and to protect reputation of their trademarks.

“.商标” follows the principle of “first come, first served”, and is neither limited by geography, country and the 45-class industries of conventional trademarks nor besieged by trademarks of the same name. Once successfully registered, the registrant will be the exclusive holder of such “.商标”in the world entitled to the exclusive right to use such “.商标” worldwide and protected by applicable law.

Therefore, ".商标" is not only used as a domain name directing to a website, but also a global mark, name, and symbol of a brand on the Internet, symbol of online identity of the brand, and an asset with high added value showcasing brand strengths on the Internet and winning more trust and business opportunities. Because of that, the domain name ".商标" becomes an import and scarce Internet resource mostly deserving registration, use, and investment on the Internet.

Nowadays, human beings are entering into the Internet information age. Domain names are the backbone of the Internet. Without domain names, the World Wide Web cannot be linked up effectively. The business role and existing significance of domain name is far beyond its technical significance. As the basic tool for individuals, enterprises, and organizations to participate in the Internet activities, domain name links up website information of such individuals, enterprises, or organizations, representing the names and addresses of the same on the Internet and comprehensively reflecting the goods, services, image, and goodwill of enterprises, which is a part of world intellectual property right and protected by laws.

There are a lot in common between a domain name and a trademark. When registering a domain name, people prefer to register the domain name sharing the same name with their trademarks. Within their respective realms, both domain name and trademark feature their exclusivity and right. “.商标” is the only generic top-level domain name that uses “商标” as a suffix on the World Wide Web. “.商标” is an innovative online intellectual-property symbol that combines “Internet domain name + trademark”.

There are numerous words, graphics, and signs in the world. If those words, graphics, and signs are without trademark sign and symbol ®, they are pure words, graphics, and signs only and cannot clearly express that they are trademarks, and do not have the function of manifesting trademark interests effectively. Therefore, they are not protected for their exclusivity and have high risk in promoting brands.

At the same time, although there are many top-level domains in different languages on the World Wide Web, there is only top-level domain that takes "商标" in Chinese as its suffix on the World Wide Web. ".商标" in Chinese are clear in its meaning, indicating that the registered domain name is a trademark. Like trademark sign and symbol ® in conventional trademarks, a ".商标" is able to express its trademark feature to others on the World Wide Web and effectively manifest the trademark interest of the registration of the ".商标". Upon the successful registration, the registrant will be the exclusive legitimate holder of such ".商标" in the world and, thus, protected by laws.

The significance of existence of ".商标" is to enable right holder of any branded trademark in any country in the world to protect, express, promote, and manifest their trademark rights on the World Wide Web via ".商标" and facilitate the Internet users and consumers to identify and search the information source of goods and services of real brands or significant marks of any individual, enterprise, or organization associated with such goods and services. Therefore, ".商标" is the only top-level domain name representing trademark on the World Wide Web.

A domain name without the suffix ".商标" is merely a domain name representing an industry or industry nature, other than a trademark. Therefore, the loss of ".商标" is like the loss of trademark sign and symbol ®, which will lead to a loss of the opportunity of branded trademarks to protect, express, promote, and manifest their trademark interests on the World Wide Web.

A ".商标" with branded trademark name is like the trademark sign and symbol ®, by which consumers and the Internet users may clearly identify that it is a domain name of trademark nature in the practice.

".商标" enables a new representation form of trademark in the Internet information age. A ".商标" gives a trademark more space for the use and representation, invigorating the trademark, increasing its application effect, enabling faster communication of trademark and wider influence of brand, manifesting trademark in a stronger way, and improving the right protection of trademark, which is an extension and expansion of trademark right on the Internet, realizing the consistent expression, management, use, and promotion of brands, online and offline, and preventing trademark from being faked and counterfeited on the Internet, so as to protect business interests of trademark right holders on the Internet.

".商标" serves its brand and represents the image of its brand, which is a new composing element of brand, accounting for an important role and position in the brand promotion and application. The use of the suffix domain name ".商标" with trademark name will increase the confidence of consumers and users in visiting the domain name and attract more visits for the website, while strengthening consumers and users' impression and memory of a brand and improve the reputation and popularity of the brand. This will function actively in directing consumers' preference to branded goods, while urge producers and distributors to guarantee quality of their goods and services and to protect reputation of their trademarks.

Therefore, ".商标" is not only used as a domain name directing to a website, but also an important mark, name, and symbol of a brand on the Internet, symbol of online identity of the brand, and an asset with high added value showcasing brand strengths on the Internet and winning more trust and business opportunities. Therefore, ".商标" is deemed as an important Internet resource that mostly deserving registration, use, and investment on the Internet.

“.商标” is an innovative online intellectual-property symbol that combines “Internet domain name + trademark”. ".商标" is a new representation form of trademarks. “.商标” is a new form of representation of trademarks. The dual identifying functions of trademark and domain name enable the online “.商标”to share the same fundamental functions of any offline trademarks that distinguish goods, services, or the information sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others, making them easily identifiable by consumers. Meanwhile, the function of a ".商标" as a domain name enables a trademark to become a generic address locator on the World Wide Web.

The registration rules for the top-level domain ".商标" requires complete relevance of a registration and use of the domain name ".商标" to its trademark right. Stringent registration rules were formulated for ".商标". The registrant of a domain name and registered word of such domain name will be examined by a professional examination and approval team in tandem with domain name registration service providers.

These measures ensure that (1) each registrant of a ".商标" must be the real trademark holder and the designation scope of registered word of a ".商标" must not exceed the scope of trademark right in its possession; (2) the valid term of a ".商标" must be consistent with that of the trademark right held by the registrant; (3) the information and content contained in a website to which a ".商标" directs must be consistent with the designation word of a ".商标"; (4) ".商标" will be suspended from use, when the trademark right held by the registrant  of the ".商标" becomes invalid; (5) the Domain Name Registry of ".商标" established a specific supervision team for the use of domain name to supervise and receive complaints filed by the public against the use of ".商标", so as to ensure the consistency between the use of ".商标" and the information of the registrant's trademark; and (6) the Domain Name Registry of ".商标" established an independent dispute settlement mechanism for ".商标" and entrusted a third party institution - Asia Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre as its dispute settlement institution to be in charge of the examination, approval, and handling of disputes over registration qualifications and other registration and use issues.

As a matter of fact, it becomes global epidemic that the false domain name registration information is relatively high on the Internet. Trademarks with high reputation are prone to become the target of domain name infringement. False domain names provide facilities for perpetrators in conducting illegal acts and crimes on the Internet. The false, inaccurate, and incomplete registration information of domain name not only is adverse to identify real websites from false ones by general Internet users, but also becomes the reason for the Internet users not trusting and using domain names. At the same time, it is adverse to competent authorities in dealing with irregularities. Information and property security of the Internet users are faced with huge threat that significantly impedes healthy development of the Internet.

In an attitude of being responsible for the society, consumers, Internet users, and registrants, the Domain Name Registry of ".商标" has formulated prudent registration rules for the authoritative ".商标" with dual identifying function and dual rights, which is an online branded mark representing goods and services, to ensure that each registrant of the ".商标" and registration information are real, accurate, and creditable. At the same time, right holders of offline trademarks wish to have their trademark rights extended, expanded, and protected on the Internet, so as to realize a unified expression, management, use, and promotion of their trademarks both online and offline, prevent their trademarks from being infringed by faking and counterfeiting, and protect their business interests on the Internet.

Meanwhile, these measures also provide real, accurate, and creditable ".商标" for the Internet users and consumers to search, identify, and distinguish the real information source of various branded goods and services, reduce the disorder and confusion in recognition and use of trademarks caused by inconsistent trademark names used on or off the Internet, so as to minimize the loss resulted from buying fake goods and services or mistakenly logging on phishing websites.

".商标" has effectively resolved the chronic and prevalent problems such as "Internet fraud" and "false operation" attributable to the inconsistency of the holder of online trademark and offline domain name and certain social issues, maintained the interests of consumers, Internet users, merchants, and enterprises, and created a credible, healthy and sustainable environment for the Internet.

According to the registration rules, ".商标" is limited to registered trademark or trademark under pending application held by the trademark right holders from all over the world, or trademark name plus the country where the trademark is registered, or trademark name plus the combination of registered class of industry, goods, and services. ".商标" takes the generic top-level domain name as its carrier, which has clear meaning and is able to convey the properties of trademark to others and consumers, indicating that the registered domain name is a trademark name. ".商标" is like domain names with the identifying sign and symbol ® on the World Wide Web. As prescribed in the requirements on use of a ".商标", a ".商标" only directs to the webpage information regarding the trademark. Meanwhile, a ".商标" may be used for various advertising media, products, and product packaging, introductory and advertising materials, exhibition, and other market activities. As a distinctive and identifiable sign of online trademark for distinguishing goods, services, or the sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others, a ".商标" is the extension and expansion of the trademark right on the Internet. Therefore, the use of a ".商标" means to express and manifest the trademark right, which becomes a solid evidence of trademark use and right protection.

As prescribed in Article 48 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, "for the purpose hereof, the use of a trademark shall include the use of the trademark on goods, packaging or container, and transaction instrument of goods, or use of the trademark for advertising, promotion, exhibition, and other business activities, for the purpose of identifying the source of goods." In addition, it is also explicitly prescribed in Article 49 of the Trademark Law that any entity or individual may file an application with the Trademark Office for canceling a registered trademark that has become a generic name of the goods on which it was approved to use or has not been used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons." Therefore, how to provide solid evidence in disputes over trademark becomes concerned by many trademark right holders.

Legal experts pointed out that a registered ".商标" without resolution, promotion, and use cannot serve as the evidence of use. A registered ".商标", however, can serve as the evidence of use, if it was resolved to the website containing a company's products or services and used on the Internet for promotion, in that a ".商标" relates to the right of a registered trademark. The advertisement, promotion, and use of a ".商标" can serve as the evidence of use.

Nowadays, as the Internet economy has become the momentum driving the economic development of all countries in the world, the development and upgrade of any enterprise are inevitably based on the Internet under the trends of "Internet + conventional enterprises". Newly emerged Internet media have become the mainstream of the age and the unrivaled superiority of Internet media has become an import media channel in promoting enterprise brands. With the shifting of focus of promotion media, trademarks, as branded marks frequently used by enterprises, are dwarfed by the digital technology-based Internet. The use of enterprise branded trademark should change with the development of the Internet.

“.商标” is an innovative online intellectual-property symbol that combines “Internet domain name + trademark”. At the same time, right holders of offline trademarks wish to have their trademark rights extended, expanded, and protected on the Internet, so as to realize a unified expression, management, use, and promotion of their trademarks both online and offline, prevent their trademarks from being infringed by faking and counterfeiting, and protect their business interests on the Internet.

At the same time, ".商标" has become a generic addressing identity for consumers and users to search, identify, and distinguish the information source of goods and services on the World Wide Web. Meanwhile, “.商标” enables a trademark to become a generic address locator on the World Wide Web, which may be used for product packaging, decorative design, manuals, business cards, exhibitions and conventional media. Furthermore, it may be widely applied in online brand promotion, search engines, website links and optimization, e-mails, e-commerce, e-government administration, QR codes, mobile network and the Internet of Things, and other online applications. In the e-commerce, and other Internet applications, ".商标" has become a frequent and important brand mark on the Internet in the Internet age. The frequent promotion and use of ".商标" by enterprise may enhance consumers and users' impression and memory of enterprise brands, strengthen the brand recognition degree, and improve the reputation and goodwill of enterprises.

It can be seen that a ".商标" has an important role and position in the promotion and application of enterprise brands. It gives trademark more space for the use and representation, invigorating the trademark of an enterprise, increasing its application effect, enabling faster communication of trademark and wider influence of brand, manifesting trademark in a stronger way, and improving the right protection of trademark.

An enterprise brand is built day after day by its entrepreneur with tremendous investment and efforts. Each enterprise considers its branded trademark as its life. Having an authoritative and easy-to-promote enterprise brand ".商标" is the first step to its success on the World Wide Web. ".商标" is not only a mark of enterprise to distinguishing itself from other similar products, but also an asset with high added value in the brand construction of an enterprise. Therefore, a ".商标" is an important sign or symbol of enterprise brand.

Nowadays, it has become the basic business activity of each enterprise that ".商标", as a branded mark of enterprise on the Internet, must be registered and protected. The protection of an enterprise on its own brands should not be limited to the protection on conventional trademarks only. ".商标", which is deemed as an online trademark of enterprise, should also be included into the overall strategy of intellectual property right of the enterprise in order to operate and manage all intangible assets of the enterprise in a unified manner so that the effective combination of online ".商标" and offline trademark of the enterprise may serve the enterprise brands and enable the enterprise brand exerting its own value and function in order to protect the sustainable development of the enterprise.

As the basic tool for individuals, enterprises, or organizations to participate in the Internet activities, domain name links up website information of such individuals, enterprises, or organizations, representing the online names and addresses of the same on the Internet and comprehensively reflecting the goods, services, image, and goodwill of enterprises.

There are a lot in common between a domain name and a trademark. When registering a domain name, people prefer to register the domain name sharing the same name with their trademarks. Both domain name and trademark are of exclusivity and right in their respective realm. “.商标” is the only generic top-level domain name that uses “商标” as a suffix on the World Wide Web. “.商标” is an innovative online trademark that combines “Internet domain name + trademark”. A ".商标" with branded trademark name is like the trademark sign and symbol ®, by which consumers and the Internet users may clearly identify that it is a domain name of trademark nature in the practice.

".商标" is a new composing element of brand, accounting for an important role and position in the brand promotion and application. The use of the suffix domain name ".商标" with trademark name will increase the confidence of consumers and users in visiting the domain name and attract more visits for the website, while strengthening consumers and users' impression and memory of a brand and improve the reputation and popularity of the brand. This will functions actively in directing consumers' preference to branded goods, while urge producers and distributors to guarantee quality of their goods and services and to protect reputation of their trademarks.

“.商标” follows the principle of “first come, first served”, and is neither limited by geography, country and the 45-class industries of conventional trademarks nor besieged by trademarks of the same name. Once successfully registered, the registrant will be the exclusive holder of such “.商标”in the world entitled to the exclusive right to use such “.商标” worldwide and protected by applicable law.

Therefore, ".商标" is not only used as a domain name directing to a website, but also a global mark, name, and symbol of a brand on the Internet, symbol of online identity of the brand, and an asset with high added value showcasing brand strengths on the Internet and winning more trust and business opportunities. Because of that, the domain name ".商标" becomes an import and scarce Internet resource mostly deserving registration, use, and investment on the Internet.

The annual registration fee is RMB2,400. In addition, at the time of filing, RMB600 should be paid for examination.

The Domain Name Registry of ".商标" establishes the following requirements for a registrant on basis of a trademark certificate:
    Material requirement. A registrant should submit complete registration materials which mainly include certificate of subject qualification (such as photocopies of enterprise business license or organizational code certificate) of the registrant, certificate of the trademark right held by the registrant (such as a trademark certificate), and photocopies of the ID card of the domain name agent for the registrant.
    Designation requirement for registered words. A registrant should designate a registered word according to the trademark right it holds. The main designation methods are as follows: name of a trademark, name of a trademark plus the name of any licensed goods or services on which the trademark was approved to use, and name of a trademark plus the name of the territory in which the trademark was approved to use.
    Requirement for registration term. The registered term must be 10 years for an initial registration of a ".商标" by a registrant holding a trademark registration.

The Domain Name Registry of ".商标" establishes the following requirements for a registrant on basis of an acceptance notice of application for trademark registration:
   a. Material requirement. A registrant should submit complete registration materials which mainly include the certificate of subject qualification of the registrant, and the trademark application certificate held by the registrant. For details, please refer to description about what materials are required for registration of a ".商标".
    b.Designation requirement for registered words. A registrant should designate a registered word according to the trademark application certificate it holds. The main designation methods are as follows: name of a trademark, the name of a trademark plus the name of any goods or services designated in the application for the trademark, and name of a trademark plus the name of the territory designated in the application for the trademark.
  c. Requirement for registration term. The registered term must be 2 years for an initial registration of a ".商标" by a registrant holding a trademark registration.

Upon registration of a ".商标" on basis of the acceptance notice of application for trademark registration, its registered domain name will be locked and suspended from directing to a website or being transferred. At the expiry of the registration term, if the trademark application is still pending or in the process of reexamination, the registrant may apply for renewing the ".商标" for 1 year. If the trademark is successfully registered, the registrant may submit the certificate of its trademark right to the Domain Name Registry of ".商标" via a registration service agency, and apply for unlocking its domain name. The registrant should pay a renewal fee for its domain name to satisfy the registration term requirement for application for a ".商标" on basis of a trademark certificate. In addition, any application for a ".商标" on basis of the acceptance notice of application for trademark registration may not squat a ".商标" corresponding to a trademark right of others, and if so, the registry has the power to refuse such registration. A domain name dispute resolution agency may also, at a complaint of a complainer, decide that the registrant should transfer a bad-faith ".商标" registration.

After a ".商标" is registered on the basis of the acceptance notice of application for trademark registration, the registration fee thereof will not be refunded, whether the offline application for the trademark registration succeeds or not, as its domain name is successfully registered and occupies the unique resource of using the registered word as a ".商标" in its registration term.

The Domain Name Registry of ".商标" intends to ensure that the registration of a domain name is under a real name and on a lawful basis, by virtue of the processes of registration, examination and use of the domain name. The foregoing processes ensure that each ".商标" corresponds to a real offline trademark right and thus a one-to-one relationship is established between the registered designation of each ".商标" and the trademark of a real offline brand trademark holder. They also highlight the authenticity and authority of a ".商标", so that numerous Internet users will consider a ".商标" as a reliable sign of a brand trademark enterprise on the Internet. For a ".商标" registered on the basis of the certificate of a trademark right, the ".商标" could be open for resolution and used normally, as the registry has verified the trademark right of its registrant by virtue of the examination process. However, for a ".商标" registered on the basis of the acceptance notice of application for trademark registration, the trademark right of its registrant is in an uncertain status, so in order to ensure a strict correspondence between the ".商标" and a trademark right, the registrant may only conduct a protective registration and the ".商标" could not be resolved or used until its registrant gains the trademark right.

A registrant who successfully registers a ".商标" on the basis of a trademark registration certificate, may obtain a domain name certificate jointly issued by the registry and the domain registrar. Such certificate guarantees the registrant's ownership to its domain name, and if the registrant will use its ".商标" in Chinese mainland, it could serve as the basis of application for website record filed with the authority in charge of websites in China.

Currently, the application for registration a ".商标" accepts a trademark right certificate issued by any of the 159 countries, regions and economic organizations listed on the official website of ".商标":

http://域名管理机构.商标/index.php/Index/policy/id/251

The registered word for a ".商标" is determined by the registered word in the identifiable text of a trademark held by its registrant. According to the registration rules, a ".商标" could be composed by Chinese, English, numbers, a dash in half form or any combination thereof. In fact, many international famous brands recognize the significance and value of ".商标", and have registered their English ".商标" corresponding to their English trademarks, such as "gucci.商标", "chanel.商标" and "Rolex.商标".

A ".商标" contains an obvious connotation of trademark and have the fundamental functions as a trademark to identify sources of goods or services on the Internet. This will help its registrant to establish a uniform sign of goodwill which could be widely used on-line or offline. When choosing a ".商标" according to the name of a trademark, the registrant should, subject to the registration rules of ".商标", first consider the registered word which could directly demonstrate the brand sign of the trademark. Therefore, if a word corresponding to the name of a trademark has yet to be registered by others, the registrant should take the name of the trademark as the preferred word to be registered. A ".商标" thus not only help a trademark holder use its registered trademark as a sign to visit its website, but also gradually enhance the building of its brand on the Internet by repeated use of the sign by consumers to visit the website of the trademark holder. As the registration of a ".商标" follows the principle of "first come, first served", securing a registered word identical to the name of a trademark is, in other words, seizing a rare Internet address resource, i.e.the ".商标", corresponding to the name of the trademark, and its registrant thus gains protection of an exclusive right to use a domain name on the Internet and enjoys an advantage in online brand building. Meanwhile, an enterprise should also consider what name it wants to use when it applies its trademark, especially in the online brand building. For example, "China + name of a trademark" is also a good choice if an enterprise wants to underline the national character of its goods or services and enhance the user's brand awareness of the national character. If a trademark of an enterprise uses a commonly used word and the name of the trademark is held by several trademark holders in different classes, the enterprise usually will promote the trademark together with its goods or services; then, "name of a trademark + industry" is also a good choice, such as "凤凰化工.商标" and "顺丰快递.商标", and this will enhance the online brand building by using a ".商标".

According to the current internationally recognized trademark examination rules, if the name of a trademark contains an industry word, a commonly used word or a product-related word used in any approved goods or services, the exclusive right holder to use the registered trademark should waive the protection for its exclusive right to use this part and may not prevent others normally using such words. In this circumstance, the registration rules of ".商标" allow the registered word to omit the part under a waiver of exclusive use right in the name of a trademark. When a right holder of a trademark registers a ".商标", it may abandon the part under a waiver of the protection of exclusive right in the trademark name and only registers the most distinctive or symbolic part in the trademark as the ".商标". For example, an enterprise holds the trademark "好日子酒家" and "酒家" are common words and the enterprise waives protection of exclusive right to that. In this circumstance, the registration rules of ".商标" allow the registrant to register the trademark "好日子.商标". But, in its registered word the enterprise could not use only the part under a waiver of exclusive right to use, such as "酒家.商标".

However, on the other hand, if the full name of the trademark is actually a brand sign of the enterprise most familiar to consumers, the enterprise should still register the full name of the trademark as a ".商标", such as "好日子酒家.商标", in order to help the enterprise to establish a uniform sign of goodwill which could be widely used on-line or offline.

Thus, if a trademark of a registrant contains the part under a waiver of exclusive right to use, it is advised that the full name of the trademark and the part other than that under a waiver of exclusive right to use in the trademark be separately registered as a ".商标", such as "好日子.商标" and "好日子酒家.商标".

".商标" consists of the name of a registered trademark or a trademark under pending application belonging to a trademark owner or trademark applicant from around the world and the suffix of the top-level domain name“.商标”. It is the brand sign of trademark of an enterprise on the Internet. Meanwhile, the function of a ".商标" as a domain name enables a trademark to become a generic address locator on the World Wide Web. In the absence of identifiable words in a wholly graphic trademark, no word sign could be drawn for registration as a ".商标" to realize the function as an address locator on the Internet. Therefore, a registrant could not register a ".商标" on the basis of a right to a wholly graphic trademark bearing no identifying word, and a registrant should register a ".商标" on the basis of a right to a trademark composed by identifying words or a combination of word and graphic.

A geographical indication is composed of a geographical name and name of a product, indicating the place of origin of the goods or services covered by the trademark. If the geographical name and the name of goods are separately registered as a ".商标", it will greatly change the underlying meaning of trademark and the trademark right and thus one single word contained in the geographical indication could not be independently registered as a ".商标". The owner of a geographical indication should use the full name of the trademark to register a ".商标". For example, an enterprise holding the right to the trademark "德州扒鸡" could register "德州扒鸡.商标", but could not register "州.商标" or "扒鸡.商标".

The ".商标" registry follows the rules of ICANN that part of geographical names are reserved as reserved words. If the part of identifying words in the name of a trademark of a trademark owner is place name and conflicts with a reserved word, currently such trademark could not be registered as a ".商标". A trademark owner could use an extension method to construct a registered word; that is, the name of a trademark and the name of goods or services on which such trademark was approved to use are combined to register a ".商标". For example, a trademark named "上海" in class 12 could be registered as "上海汽车.商标" or "上海轿车.商标" but not "上海.商标" or "中国上海.商标". Take another example, a trademark named "中南海" in class 34, could be registered as "中南海香烟.商标" or "中国中南海.商标".

A registrant could on the basis of a trademark right to register several ".商标" according to the registration information on its trademark certificate. For example,
Trademark registrant: Guangdong Dazhong Bank Company Limited;
Name of its registered trademark: "大众" and "大众银行";
Class: approved on services of life insurance underwriting, financing affairs and banking in class 36;
available ".商标":
大众.商标 (registered by the name of the trademark)
大众银行.商标 (registered by the name of the trademark)
中国大众.商标 (registered by a combination of the country approving the trademark+the name of the trademark)
大众保险.商标(registered by a combination of the name of its approved service + the name of the trademark)
大众金融.商标 (registered by a combination of the name of its approved service + the name of the trademark)

If a trademark of a trademark holder has a too long name, it is difficult to remember the domain name with its name. However, the following methods could be taken to register a ".商标" for such trademarks:

".商标" consists of the name of a registered trademark or a trademark under pending application belonging to a trademark owner or trademark applicant from around the world and the suffix of the top-level domain name“.商标”. It is the brand sign of trademark of an enterprise on the Internet. Meanwhile, the function of a ".商标" as a domain name enables a trademark to become a generic address locator on the World Wide Web. In the absence of an identifiable word in a scent trademark or sound trademark, no word sign could be drawn for registration and use as a ".商标" to realize the function as an address locator on the Internet. Therefore, a registrant could not register a ".商标" on the basis of a right to a scent trademark or sound trademark, and a registrant should register a ".商标" on the basis of a right to a trademark composed by identifying words or a combination of word and graphic.

The registration rules of ".商标" allow to register and use a ".商标" on the basis of a trademark right certificate, and also allow to conduct a protective registration on the basis of a trademark application certificate. Therefore, if a trademark certificate has yet to be issued,
(1)    and (1) the trademark application filed by the registrant is still pending, then the registrant may file an application for a protective registration of a corresponding ".商标" on the basis of the acceptance notice thereof through a registration agency and the registration term of the ".商标" should not exceed 2 years. The domain name of the ".商标" is suspended from resolving for use. When the registrant obtains a trademark certificate, it may change its trademark right certificate through a registration service provider and apply for concluding the formal registration process of the ".商标". After that, the ".商标" is open for resolution and use.
(2)    Another circumstance is that a trademark of a trademark applicant is approved for registration and information about rights to the trademark could be retrieved on the official website of its trademark registration agency. If a trademark certificate has yet to issue merely for the reason of a process problem or other problems, then the registrant thereof could file an application for a ".商标" on the basis of the printout of the information about rights to the trademark. Then the registration of the ".商标" is successfully and officially completed. After obtaining a trademark right certificate, the registrant should update its trademark right certificate through a registration service provider.

As a globally generic top-level domain, the ".商标" is intended to serve as a powerful tool for any trademark right holder all over the world to protect, express and highlight its trademark brand right on the Internet. The registration rules of ".商标" require that a domain name registrant may only register and use a ".商标" when it holds a lawful right to a trademark. However, trademarks are registered and administered by different countries and in accordance with different classes of goods and there are many trademarks of completely identical word signs in the world, so it is possible that several ".商标" containing identical trademark name.

According to the registration rules of ".商标", the designation of a registered word could not only be the full name of a registered trademark but also be any combination of the name of a trademark and the registration / application information of the trademark. Since trademarks are registered and administered by different countries and in accordance with different classes of goods, and there are many trademarks of completely identical word signs, if a ".name of a trademark ".商标" is registered, it is possible that a right holder of a trademark with the same name use the form of "territory + name of a trademark.商标" or "name of a trademark + name of the class of its designated service.商标" to register a ".商标".

If an enterprise, from the perspective of defense, wants to ensure the exclusive right to its trademark and brand on the top-level domain of ".商标" to enhance the online brand building, then it may, according to the name of its trademark and the registration / application information of the trademark, and subject to the rule of "designating a registered word by combining the name of a trademark and the registration / application information of the trademark", use the name of a trademark plus its registration / application information to register several ".商标" related to the designated classes and the territory where the registrant is located, so as to prevent others from using the ".商标".

If a trademark owner, when preparing for registering a ".商标", finds its wanted "name of a trademark.商标" is registered by another trademark owner to a trademark with identical name, the former trademark owner may also, according to the rule of "designating a registered word by combining the name of a trademark and the registration / application information of the trademark", use the form of "the registration / application information of a trademark plus its name" to register a ".商标", then the registered words available should include:
  (1)a combination of the nation approving for the registration of a trademark + the name of the trademark, which could indicate the nationality of the trademark brand;
  (2)a combination of the name of a trademark + the goods(services) on which the trademark was approved to use, which could indicate the specific goods and industry of the trademark brand.

Part V Application of a ".商标"

Today, the Internet is changing the conventional mode of production and life in society. The development of Internet economy becomes a new engine for the development of economies in countries all over the world. People are more used to shopping on the Internet and gradually accept a speedy transaction by online payment using a credit card. Numerous traders and enterprises set up online stores or their own e-commerce platforms to transfer their online physical goods to the Internet for sale and service. Therefore, on the Internet appear many online stores without physical online stores and brand goods or services exclusively offered online which do not exist in conventional fields. Meanwhile, on the Internet also appear lots of counterfeited brand goods, fake service information and phishing sites for fraud. Trademarks, the brand sign demonstrating traders, enterprises and goods reputation, are severely subject to infringement on the Internet.

“.商标” is the only generic top-level domain name that uses “商标” as a suffix on the World Wide Web. A ".商标" is a real, authoritative and distinctive network sign in the information era of Internet for people to identify and distinguish the source of any goods, services, or any individual, enterprise or organization related thereto on the Internet, and is also an online enterprise trademark sign for an individual, enterprise or organization to use, express, promote, manifest and protect its trademark on the World Wide Web and extend and expand its trademark right to the Internet. A ".商标" is an innovative online sign of intellectual property in the form of "Internet domain name + trademark", following the visual trademark, scent trademark and sound trademark, and it is a new representation of trademark and an indispensable factor and symbol in the information era of Internet.

The registration and protection of a ".商标" as an online brand name has been considered as a most basic business practice of an enterprise. An enterprise may, through registration and use of a ".商标", effectively extend its online brand trademark to the World Wide Web.

The registration of a trademark is limited by geography, country and the 45-class industries, and there are homonym trademarks in different countries or territories and in different classes of industry, so a trademark is required to be only used in the country or territory where it is registered or in respect of its designated class of goods, and the use of the trademark outside of the country or territory where it is registered or beyond its designated class of goods could not be protected and may infringe upon the rights and interests of others.

There are no boundaries on the Internet. A ".商标" is a new representation form of trademark right on the Internet, and once registered, a ".商标" could be used in any country or territory all over the world or in different classes of industry.

The use of a trademark will easily be infringed upon or inadvertently infringe upon others' right to a trademark, and the protection of its exclusive right is difficult and costs much. A global domain name has a feature of uniqueness such that no identical ".商标" exists or possibly exist in the world. Therefore, the chance is low that the use of a ".商标" infringes upon the right to another ".商标", and compared with a trademark, the protection of the exclusive right to a ".商标" is easier, costs less and faster.

A ".商标" could be used as a trademark for product packaging, decorative design, manuals, business cards, exhibitions and various conventional media and network advertising media, having the function of a distinctive and distinguishable sign to distinguish goods, services, or the information sources of specific individuals, enterprises or organizations related to such goods or services from others. Besides, it also directly links consumers and userss to webpages of brand through the carrier of Internet domain name and enables them to learn about the information about goods or services related to a ".商标" at any time.

On the web, a ".商标" is more suitable for online promotion, e-commerce, and transaction platforms than a trademark. A ".商标" could appear on an advertisement banner, search engine, metadata (meta-tag) optimized for SEO, e-commerce supplier guiding website, SNSs and other platforms, and becomes the important tool for building an online brand.

Therefore, in comparison with a trademark, a ".商标" may be used in a wider scope and is more convenient, enabling a faster dissemination of a brand trademark, a wider scope of brand influence, a speedily enlarged use effect and manifestation of the trademark, a stronger protection for interests of a trademark, and a faster enhanced brand value.

In the information era of Internet, the use of a trademark together with a ".商标" achieve a uniform brand image both online and online, and thus make consumers more confident of the brand goods or services. Without a ".商标", the use of its corresponding trademark is less effective.

The ".商标" registry requires a registrant to follow the four requirements below after it successfully registers a domain name:

(1) Notice of change to the trademark right of a registrant

If any change occurs to the registration information of a registrant's trademark, such as a transfer or renewal of the trademark, the registrant should file an application for change of the trademark right with the ".商标" registration administration via a domain name registration service agency or agent. After the trademark is transferred, a ".商标" should also be transferred and its domain name owner should be changed to the trademark owner after the transfer.

(2) Requirements for maintaining the trademark right of a registrant

Upon the expiry of the term of a trademark, if the registrant wants to continue using a trademark, it must pay a renewal fee, and if it fails to make a timely payment of the renewal fee, its right to the trademark as well as the corresponding ".商标" will be forfeited. The system in the ".商标" registry will record the expiry date of a trademark held by a domain name registrant, and will send a mail reminder to the domain name registrant to renew the trademark right information, so as to avoid the forfeiture of its trademark right as well as its ownership to its ".商标".

(3) Requirement for updating the information of a registrant

If any change occurs to the information of a registrant, such as the address, phone and mailbox for contact, the registrant should forthwith inform a domain name registration service agency or agent to make such changes to ensure important communication messages as to its domain name could be successfully received.

(4)Requirement for resolving and directing a domain name to a website

Upon a domain name is successfully registered, the website to which the resolution is directed must be associated with the registration information of its corresponding trademark.

After a ".商标" is successfully registered on the basis of a trademark right certificate, the registrant thereof may take "theregisteredword.商标" as the preferred domain name of its website, and such ".商标" could be printed on its product packaging, decorative design, manuals, business cards, exhibitions and advertising materials of various conventional media and network advertising media, and guide the clients and consumers and enable them to remember the domain name through continuous promotion and advertising, thereby becoming a trademark brand sign of an enterprise on the Internet.

As the use of Chinese domain names is becoming more popular, all the current mainstream browsers support visiting a website by direct input of "the registered word.商标", instead of "www.theregisteredword.商标" or "http:// theregisteredword.商标". All of these facilitate the preferred input methods of users and enhance the recognition of the trademark brand.

On January 8, 2015, the ".商标" registry obtained the formal approval from China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to operate the top-level domain of ".商标" in China. According to the applicable rules of Internet domain name administration in China, the top-level domain name ".商标" is officially included into the domain name administration system of China. In China, the user of a domestic website registering a ".商标", may apply for record filing of the website with a competent authority.

“.商标” is the only generic top-level domain name that uses “商标” as a suffix on the World Wide Web. A ".商标" is a real, authoritative and distinctive network sign in the information era of Internet for people to identify and distinguish the source of any goods, services, or any individual, enterprise or organization related thereto on the Internet, and is also an online enterprise trademark sign for an individual, enterprise or organization to use, express, promote, manifest and protect its trademark on the World Wide Web and extend and expand its trademark right to the Internet. It is an innovative online sign of intellectual property in the form of "Internet domain name+trademark", following the visual trademark, scent trademark and sound trademark, and it is a new representation of trademark and an indispensable factor and symbol in the information era of Internet.

For an enterprise, a ".商标" could increase its ability to protect and defense its offline trademark, enhance the strength of its right protection, greatly reduce the adverse influence or reputation or economic loss suffered from trademark squatting, misuse, infringement and passing-off, or the litigation cost inured in the protection of its rights.

A ".商标" could reduce an enterprise's repeated promotional costs as a result that the online and offline names of its brand trademark are inconsistent, and the ".商标" of the enterprise is easy to memorize and use and could reduce the confusion and disturbance in respect of recognition and use of a trademark of the enterprise caused by the inconsistencies of online and online names of its brand trademark; meanwhile, ".商标" on the Internet could effectively protect and prevent an unfair competitor from using similar or identical trademark signs to market a kind of goods or services of low or different quality, thereby reducing the loss resulting from buying forged goods or services or visiting a phishing site.

A ".商标" increases the added value of goods or services of an enterprise. A ".商标" could also be transferred with compensation or licensed to others such that an enterprise could own both of the brand value and domain name value of a trademark, thereby effectively increasing the brand value of the enterprise.

A ".商标" could be used as a trademark for product packaging, decorative design, manuals, business cards, exhibitions and various conventional media and network advertising media. Meanwhile, it also directly links consumers and users to webpages of brand through the carrier of Internet domain name and enables them to learn about the information about goods or services of the enterprise at any time. A ".商标" is suitable for online marketing, e-commerce, and transaction platforms, and is an important sign for an enterprise to build its brands online and thus is an extremely important intangible asset of the enterprise.

A ".商标" could enhance the original brand image of an enterprise, invigorate the trademark of an enterprise, enlarge the use effect of a trademark, enable faster communication of a trademark and wider influence of brand. Meanwhile, having a ".商标" will extend the online application of the trademark of an enterprise, increase the traffic of its website, such that the trademark of the enterprise may be advertised on the Internet more easily, seizing an advantage in the brand promotion and competition.

In the brand oriented commercial market, how to enable consumers and users to remember and support the online brand of an enterprise is at the top of its agenda in brand marketing. In commercial activities, it is the brand trademark that an enterprise promotes the most, and the brand of an enterprise needs to be extended in multi-layers and multi-dimensions; and only continuous promotion and use could make the brand trademark gain certain popularity. A reputable brand trademark is a great asset of any enterprise.

If an enterprise wants to register a trademark in all classes in a country, it would have to spend more than 10,000 US dollars, and if an enterprise wants to register one single brand trademark in each country all over the world, the time and fees to cost would be incalculable.  If an enterprise wants to promote a brand, it will have to spend thousands of RMBs printing flyers for distribution and tens of thousands RMB publishing advertisements on various magazines and online media at least, or spend millions of RMBs placing advertisements on TV and billboards at best. However, these promotions may only reach a limited audience and last for a limited period. If an enterprise wants to promote its brand worldwide, it will cost a large amount of money.  The advertisement costs spent by Apple Inc. in 2014 was approximately 6 billion US dollars. Therefore, a ".商标" is a cost-effective budget solution of registering, promoting, protecting and using the brand trademark of an enterprise.

A multi-language domain name is similar to an English domain name. It could be used in an address bar for visiting an address or be applied to an email system. In February, 2012, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) published a core technical standard No.RFC6531 in relation to Chinese emails, and the technical barrier to apply Chinese domain names is thus completely eliminated. The application of an email with Chinese domain name gives great convenience to Internet users in China to send and receive emails on the Internet.

Many email service providers in China have supported the application of e-mails with Chinese domain name. In October, 2014, jointly pioneered by CNNIC and CoreMail, the first registration platform for Chinese domain name e-mail box in the world was launched. This means more Internet users in China could use the service of "Chinese domain name e-mail box account". Through the platform, Internet users could register an e-mail box with a Chinese domain name and conduct communications by an e-mail box with Chinese domain name.