Shanghai. November 24. INTERFAX-CHINA - The organization committee for the Beijing Olympics will take legal action against individuals or companies that register internet domains in China and abroad using the names of the five mascots for the 2008 summer games, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) said.
The names of the five Beijing Olympic mascots are trademarks, and thus using their names in internet domains is the same as putting the Olympic logo onto products without permission, the BOCOG said.
In China, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), which is in charge of issuing internet domains in the country, will save domains based on the five Beijing Olympic mascots for the BOCOG to use. Individuals and companies that register domains that are slight variations on the mascot's names may also face legal action, the BOCOG said. The committee will work in cooperation with relevant Chinese government agencies in taking legal action against those that use the mascots' names without permission in China.
Internationally, the BOCOG will work with the International Olympic Committee, as well as act alone, in taking legal action against those that register internet domains using the names of the mascots.
The five Beijing Olympic mascots were unveiled on November 11. The group of five is officially named the Five Friendlies, and in Chinese are called Fu Wa (lucky baby) or Wu Fu Wa (five lucky babies). The names of the five mascots are Beibei the Fish, Jingjing the Panda, Huanhuan the Olympic Flame, Yingying the Tibetan Antelope, and Nini the Swallow. When their names are all combined (Bei-Jing-Huan-Ying-Ni), it become the Chinese phrase for 'Welcome to Beijing.'
Domain name ownership has been a serious problem for multinational corporations doing business in China. Viacom International, for example, lost a court battle for control of the "mtv.com.cn" and "mtv.cn" domain names in June of this year. The two domain names had been registered and are controlled by Beijing Guowang Information Co. Ltd, which has also been accused of hijacking domain names associated with IKEA, L'Oreal, Rolex, Dupont, and Vogue. In another example, Google paid USD 1 mln to gain control of www.google.com.cn and www.google.cn.
As a result of these cases, multinationals have become much more aware of internet domains. Samsung registered 470 .CN domain names in the first six months of this year in an effort to protect domains related not only to the company's name, but also to the name of Samsung's chairman. Germany's Deutsche Telekom registered more than 100 .CN domain names, even though the company currently does not have any businesses in China.
http://www.interfax.cn/showfeature.asp?aid=7771&slug=OLYMPICS
The names of the five Beijing Olympic mascots are trademarks, and thus using their names in internet domains is the same as putting the Olympic logo onto products without permission, the BOCOG said.
In China, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), which is in charge of issuing internet domains in the country, will save domains based on the five Beijing Olympic mascots for the BOCOG to use. Individuals and companies that register domains that are slight variations on the mascot's names may also face legal action, the BOCOG said. The committee will work in cooperation with relevant Chinese government agencies in taking legal action against those that use the mascots' names without permission in China.
Internationally, the BOCOG will work with the International Olympic Committee, as well as act alone, in taking legal action against those that register internet domains using the names of the mascots.
The five Beijing Olympic mascots were unveiled on November 11. The group of five is officially named the Five Friendlies, and in Chinese are called Fu Wa (lucky baby) or Wu Fu Wa (five lucky babies). The names of the five mascots are Beibei the Fish, Jingjing the Panda, Huanhuan the Olympic Flame, Yingying the Tibetan Antelope, and Nini the Swallow. When their names are all combined (Bei-Jing-Huan-Ying-Ni), it become the Chinese phrase for 'Welcome to Beijing.'
Domain name ownership has been a serious problem for multinational corporations doing business in China. Viacom International, for example, lost a court battle for control of the "mtv.com.cn" and "mtv.cn" domain names in June of this year. The two domain names had been registered and are controlled by Beijing Guowang Information Co. Ltd, which has also been accused of hijacking domain names associated with IKEA, L'Oreal, Rolex, Dupont, and Vogue. In another example, Google paid USD 1 mln to gain control of www.google.com.cn and www.google.cn.
As a result of these cases, multinationals have become much more aware of internet domains. Samsung registered 470 .CN domain names in the first six months of this year in an effort to protect domains related not only to the company's name, but also to the name of Samsung's chairman. Germany's Deutsche Telekom registered more than 100 .CN domain names, even though the company currently does not have any businesses in China.
http://www.interfax.cn/showfeature.asp?aid=7771&slug=OLYMPICS
