Recently, Alibaba Group won a domain name dispute case and successfully obtained four disputed domain names. The Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre (ADNDRC) ordered the defendant to transfer the 4 domain names of alibabagroup.com, alimamagroup.com, alimamanet.com, alimama.info back to Alibaba Group.
The Ailibaba Group was established in Hangzhou in 1999 and registered “alibaba” trademark throughout the world. Over the years, it has become the world's leading e-commerce company. The co-plaintiff, Alimama Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group, and it officially registered “alimama” trademark in 2007.
The plaintiff claimed that the 4 disputed domain names, registered in March, September and January 2007 respectively, had already caused confusion with “Alibaba” trademark. It was clear that the defendants registered the domain names in a bad faith, and should transfer those domain names back to Alibaba group.
The defendant argued that the questioned 4 domain names were quite different from the plaintiff’s trademark in terms of words and meaning. The defendant also alleged that Alibaba Group brought the case in bad faith.
During the review, the ADNDRC referred to "Unified Resolution Policy on Domain Name Dispute", and held that the evidence submitted by the complainant was sufficient and the 4 disputed domain names constituted confusion with “Alibaba” and “Alimama” trademarks among the public. Therefore, the ADNDRC made a ruling in favor of Ailibaba Group.
