I was asked to give an opinion of a series of emails sent by a webhosting/domain registration company to one of my contact business address. The email sounded like this :
[code]
Dear CEO,
We are the department of registration service in ASIA . I have something need to confirm with you. We have received an application formally, one company named “YingQuan Holdings Limited” applies for
The Internet Trademark:
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Then when my friend does not respond to the first email, they sent yet another correspondence
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Dear Mr CEO
We knew you have registered the domain name www.xxxxx.com.my and own the intellectual property (own the trademark xxxxx ). This is why we informed you, But now Yingquan Holdings Limited wanted to apply for other domain names and internet brand name you have not registered yet. Yingquan Holdings Limited wants to apply the following domain names:
The Internet Trademark:
xxxxxxxx
If you have no relationship with Yingquan Holdings Limited, according to our working experience, there are 2 possibilities:
1. Yingquan Holdings Limited is a domain names grabber. they want to register these names before you and sell back to you to gain profits.
2. your competitor let Yingquan Holdings Limited to register your domain names, let your customers feel confusion.
We found they are not the real owner of this name when we were checking. So we sent email to inform your company to protect your interest. As a domain name registrar, we have no right to dispute their application. As the company whose trademarks relate to the applied domains, you own the preferential rights to register them. If you think these domain names are useful for you, we can help you register these domain names within dispute period. If you do not need, then we can register for Yingquan Holdings Limited. You must know that any party have right to register any domain name in the world without authorized. This is international domain name registration principle. For example, google.com.cn & google.cn had been registered by other company. And Goolge had paied 1 million dollars to get the two domain names back. We also don’t hope that there will be some infringement to the interests of your company in future.
There is a time limit. Pls let us know your decision soon. Waiting for your reply.
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As relatively new owner of his own domain name (his company specialised in engineering material, and he his from a engineering management background), he panicked and replied to the company to for an extension until he can sort things out, at the same time he forwarded the emails to me and a couple of his IT-savvy friends for a second opinion.
Few days later he receives another email from the suspicious China Net Technology Limited.
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Please note, the auditing period is coming soon. If you decide to protect these domain names, pls reply us within 5 workdays. We will send the application form to you to fill in. If your company do not register these domain names, we will finish aforesaid company’s registration within 5 workdays. YingQuancompany will become the legal owner of these domain names in the world.
We had notified you, so we are not responsible for any dispute question about intellectual property right and trademark after they succeed in registering.
If you have any further questions, pls contact us within 5 workdays.
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A simple Google search reveals that this company has been using the same modus operandi to ‘extort’ money from honest and naive businesses regarding their intellectual property of their domain name. Their main target often includes non-IT company whose are more susceptible to their scam tactic.
At best their are analogous to thugs that demands monthly “protection fees” in exchange for not ruining your business as there are no guarantee if they won’t get back to you to offer their courtesy “intellectual property protection” warning to your company.
Other websites that reports the same scamming pattern :
http://blog.sinohosting.net/beware-of-chinese-domain-names-fraud/
http://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/f59105ca186910e6/651afbef9415f099
http://luciddesign.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/beware-of-emails-from-china-net-technology-limited/
http://www.webproworld.com/internet-industry/64095-generic-domain-names-yield-china-net-technology-limited.html
