HK Firm Wins Cyber-Squatting Case Against Sony

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

13 August 2003

Electronics giant, Sony Corporation has lost out in a cyber-squatting dispute to a small Hong Kong-based firm, according to reports in the regional media this week.

The dispute centred on the domain name, 'ps.com.hk', which local businessman, David Wu had registered in 2000 for his Innovative Polymer Solutions company, but which Sony wanted as a tie-in to its PlayStation consoles.

Earlier this year, the Japanese firm wrote to Mr Wu, alleging that they owned the domain, and accusing him of cyber-squatting. However, speaking to the South China Morning Post this week, he explained that:

'I told them it was not theirs, and that 'ps' could stand for anything, not just PlayStation.'

Mr Wu admitted that his initial response to the firm's approaches, namely asking them to make him an offer for the domain, was misguided in this context. However, his decision not to pursue this line of negotiation meant that it was difficult for Sony to prove that he had only purchased the domain name in the hopes of receiving a large payout for it.

Following last week's ruling in his favour by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the SAR-based businessman suggested that the fact that the domain name was in use by a genuine business had helped to win the case.

'One of the reasons we won is that we really are in business. We were not trying to cyber-squat. If the companies were just shell companies, it would look like cyber-squatting,' he explained to the SCMP.

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