Notice of Internet Intellectual Property Rights Dispute in China???

Update 4/22/16-

 I can't believe this scam is still going on. Today one of our clients received a version of this message but the spammer was claiming to be part of Network Solutions. 

We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in China. We received an application from Huabao Ltd on April 18, 2016. They want to register " rockcountyalliance " as their Internet Keyword and " rockcountyalliance .cn "、" rockcountyalliance .com.cn " 、" rockcountyalliance .net.cn "、" rockcountyalliance .org.cn " 、" rockcountyalliance .asia " domain names, they are in China and Asia domain names. But after checking it, we find " rockcountyalliance " conflicts with your company. In order to deal with this matter better, so we send you email and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China or not? 

We still get a call on this topic once a month or so. Be careful out there people.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The information contained in this message and in any attachment is intended only for the recipient. It may be privileged and confidential, and should be protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, or you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender by replying to the message and delete it from your computer. Please be aware that any dissemination or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.   ­­  

For about the last year or so I have been getting calls from many of our manufacturing customers that are in a panic because they have received an email with the subject line: "Notice of Internet Intellectual Property Rights Dispute in China". 

The email claims to be with the department of Asian Domain registration service in China and they claim to have received a application from a company that is attempting to register my clients brand name  in a domain. 

This is a scam.  They are attempting to sell you a bunch of over priced domain names.  Don't be fooled.   Often times the phone numbers in the email actually work but in none of the cases we have looked at have we found the companies initiating the emails NOT legitimate ICANN registrars.

Here is an example of one such email:

Subject: Notice of Internet Intellectual Property Rights Dispute in China
(If you are NOT CEO,please forward this to your CEO, because this is urgent.Thanks.)

Dear CEO,

We are the department of Asian Domain registration service in China, have something need to confirm with you. we formally received an application on July 19,2010. one company which called "Brazil Kpore Investment S.A" are applying to register "YourCompanyName" as Brand Name and Domains.

YourCompanyName.asia (Asia)

YourCompanyName.hk (Hong Kong)

YourCompanyName.com.tw (Taiwan)

YourCompanyName.hk (Hong Kong)

YourCompanyName.net.cn (China)

YourCompanyName.org.cn (China)

YourCompanyName.tw (Taiwan)

YourCompanyName.com.sg (Singapore)

YourCompanyName.com.vn (Vietnam)

YourCompanyName.sg (Singa pore)

YourCompanyName.vn (Vietnam)

YourCompanyName.my (Malaysia)

YourCompanyName.ae (Arab Emirates)

YourCompanyName.co.kr (Korea)

YourCompanyName.kr (Korea)

YourCompanyName.cn (China)

YourCompanyName.com.cn (China)

But we found that "Brazil Kpore Investment S.A" is not the original owner of the brand and trademark in the checking period,which belong to your company .I need confirm with you whether your company authorized that company to register these domain name.If you have done that ,We will finish the registration for them and link to their website.

If not, please let me know ASAP.

In addition, we hereby affirm that our time limit for dissent application is 7 workdays. If your company files no dissent within the time limit, we will unconditionally approve the application.

Best Regards,
Peter Yan(Mr)
Auditing Consultant

Tel: +0086-566-2629-555 Fax: +0086-566-2629-666

Address:Room205, No.D4 Qingxi South Garden, South-ChangJiang Road,Guichi Shi District,Chizhou,China

UPDATE- 12/20/2011

Here is another email I received from what I believe is the same group:

Dear CEO,
(If you are not in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO, because this is urgent. Thanks)
We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Shanghai, China. On Dec 15, 2011, we received an application from Hantong company requested "foremosthunting" as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names. But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it's necessary to send email to you and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
Kind regards 

Paul PangOffice Manager Shanghai Office (Head Office)3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China Tel:             +86-21-6191-8696       Mobile: +86-182-2195-1605Fax: +86-21-6191-8697Web: www.yiguannetwork.comP Please consider the environment before printing this email

I responded to the latest email from these guys posted above stating that the domain in question was our brand name. This is the response I got back:

"Dear Sirs,We are Hantong company based in China. We will register the "foremosthunting" as internet keyword and CN domain names .cn, .com.cn, .net.cn, .org.cn. We have handed in our application and are waiting for Mr. Paul Pang's approval. We think this name is important for our products in Chinese market. Even though Mr. Paul Pang advises us to change another name, we will persist in this name.Best regardsGareth Lee"

I responded again saying I wanted to protect my brand and this is the response I got back:

Dear Jon Ballard,

Based on your company having no relationship with them, we have suggested they should choose another name to avoid this conflict but they insist on this name as CN domain names (.cn/.com.cn/.net.cn/.org.cn) and internet keyword on the internet. In our opinion, maybe they do the similar business as your company and register it to promote his company.
According to the domain name registration principle: Domain name and internet keyword which applied based on the international principle are opened to companies as well as individuals. Any companies or individuals have rights to register any domain name and internet keyword which are unregistered. Because your company haven't registered this name as CN domains and internet keyword on the internet, anyone can obtain them by registration. However, in order to avoid this conflict, the trademark or original name owner has priority to make this registration in our audit period.
If your company is the original owner of this name and want to register these CN domain names (.cn/.com.cn/.net.cn/.org.cn) and internet keyword to prevent anybody from using them, please inform us. We can send you an application form with price list and help your company register them.

Kind regards

As you can see the end game here is to get me to buy some over priced Chinese domain name extensions.  The next correspondence I received from this company was a invoice.  The invoice contained:

$144/Year from a "Internet Key Word" (My Brand Name)
4 different Chinese domain name extension versions of my URL at $44/Year.

The invoice said it was the "Internet Keyword & CN Domain Name Application Form"

Attached please find this application form. You can find the price from this form. If your company want to make this application, please fill out this form and send it back with the copy of company business license (company registration certificate).

I also asked what a internet keyword was (Only $144/Year) and this is the response I received:

Thanks for your email. Internet Keyword is one of the new accessing ways to internet, which is the real-world brand’s extension and incorporeal property in the network. It is also a new generation of network accessing technology, which can help users get the companies and products’ information directly by inputting the name of company, product, trademark etc. into browser, search engines, regional infoports and so on.
Kind regards
Paul Pang

Here is the latest version of this scam from an Abby Wang 11/13/12 :

Dear Manager,
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China and Asia.
On Nov 12th 2012, We received Kenya Ltd's application that they are registering the name "foremosthunting" as their Internet Keyword and "foremosthunting.cn "、"foremosthunting.com.cn " 、"foremosthunting.asia "domain names etc.., they are China and ASIA domain names. But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so we are sending you this email to check. According to the principle in China, your company is the owner of the trademark, In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!
Best Regards,Abby Wang

 

General Manager
Anhui Office (Head Office)Registration Department Manager
Room 1008 Shenhui Building
Haitian Road, Huli Anhui, ChinaOffice:  +86 0553 4994789
Fax:     +86 0553 4994789

web:  www.ygcompany.org