Appeal of the first domain name dispute in Khanh Hoa

The rare domain name dispute, which occurred for the first time in Khanh Hoa, will be heard on appeal by the High People's Court in Da Nang tomorrow (April 26).

According to the announced trial schedule, tomorrow (April 26), the High People's Court in Da Nang will hear the appeal of a commercial business case on a domain name dispute between the plaintiff, Khanh Hoa Investment and Trade Joint Stock Company (abbreviated as Khanh Hoa Investment and Trade Company) and the defendant, Tictours International Travel Company Limited (abbreviated as Tictours Company). The appeal hearing was postponed on March 15 because the defendant's legal representative requested a postponement. This is a rare domain name dispute, the first time it has occurred in Khanh Hoa.

According to the records, in December 2010, Khanh Hoa Trading and Investment Company established Tictours Travel Center with Mr. Nguyen Quang Thang as director. Afterwards, Mr. Thang represented the center to register the domain name tictours.vn to transact with customers. In early 2015, Mr. Thang established his own company named Tictours International Travel Company Limited (Tictours Travel).

On March 30, 2015, the Information Technology Center under VNPT Khanh Hoa received a document from Tictours Travel Center signed by Mr. Thang, returning the domain name tictours.vn with the reason that the center no longer needed it. On April 1, 2015, Mr. Thang officially resigned from Khanh Hoa Trading and Investment Company. The next day, Mr. Thang represented Tictours Travel to register the domain name tictours.vn for his own company and was accepted by VNPT.

At the first instance trial in November 2015, the People's Court of Khanh Hoa province rejected the plaintiff's lawsuit, stating: The regulations of Tictours Tourism Center do not specify who is authorized to register the domain name or sign the application to return the domain name. At the time of the request to return the domain name, Mr. Nguyen Quang Thang was still the director of Tictours Tourism Center under Khanh Hoa Trading and Investment Company. The procedure for returning the domain name was accepted by the Information Technology Center (under VNPT Khanh Hoa) and ensured to be in accordance with the law.

According to the court, since March 30, 2015, the domain name tictours.vn has been canceled, in a free state, not owned by Tictours Travel Center. On April 2, 2015, after receiving the registration declaration of the domain name tictours.vn from Tictours Travel, of which Mr. Thang is the director, the Information Technology Center proceeded to register this domain name and was reviewed and issued by the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC) in accordance with the prescribed procedures. The fact that Mr. Thang personally signed the application to return the domain name without reporting or going through the company's leadership is not within the scope of this lawsuit.

The plaintiff then appealed the entire first instance judgment, arguing that the judgment and decision of the first instance court were not objective and seriously violated procedural law.

According to PLO