1. Parties and Contested Domain Name

a) Complainant's Identity
Haier Group Corporation
Qingdao City
Shandong Province
China

b) Respondent's Identity
noddie.com
Fujian Province
China

c) Contested Domain Name: ehaier.net

2. Procedural History

The Request for Service for the case: AF-0637 from Clerk's office was received on January 19, 2001. I signed a Declaration of Independence and Impartiality as a 1-member panel on January 23, 2001. The Clerk's office responded with the appointment and the password. The complaint information has been well read. There are no annexes from complainant. There has been no response from the respondent.

3. Factual Background

Haier Group Company, a super-large state-owned enterprise, manufactures a huge range of domestic appliances covering 42 major categories and more than 9 000 models. The Financial Times placed Haier seventh in the list of outstanding Asian transnational co mpanies. Haier was the only Chinese enterprise in the top ten. Haier has gained a worldwide reputation with products exported to over 100 countries and regions. Haier was the first manufacturer in China to be given ISO 9001 accreditation early in 1992. So on after that Haier was getting more and more worldwide known. On May 20, 1997, Haier filed an application with the United States' Patent and Trademark Office to register "Haier" as its English trademark. The registration was granted on February 16, 1999 . Since 1996 Haier Group registered domain names: haier.com, haier.com.cn, ehaier.com, etc. Noddie.com, the respondent registered "ehaier.net" as its domain name after Haier registered one of its domain names "ehaier.com" on March 30, 2000.

"e" and "haier" makes "ehaier" which is associated with Haier Group for its leading electric appliance and the internet users could access the website www. ehaier.com to visit Haier Group. The entity running the website www.ehaier.net has nothing to do with Haier Group and has sought no authorization from Haier Group to use the domain name.

4. Parties' Contentions

The Complainant Haier Group has been seeking, specify, in accordance with the Policy, the domain name "ehaier.net" be transferred to the complainant.

5. Discussion and Findings

Based on the complaint information raised by Haier Group and the response (no response at all) from the Respondent, in accordance with the Policy, the facts have been found by the Panel:

a) ehaier.net, a combination of "e" and "haier" with the suffix "net", is confusingly similar to the mark "haier" which belongs to Haier Group;

b) Haier Group has been nationally famous since later 1980's in China, and is now well known worldwide. The entity running the website www.ehaier.net has no right or other legally protected interest with the mark "haier", and neither has anything to do wi th Haier Group nor has ever sought authorization from Haier Group to use the mark;

c) The domain name ehaier.net was registered on June 2000 long after the mark haier became famous in China and was registered as a trademark in the U.S., especially after the mark has become well-known worldwide.

d) All the above facts show clearly that the respondent's deed is provided with copy or similarity, illegitimacy and bad faith.

e) The panel of this case was formed on the date 25th of January of 2001. Zhou Lin, the panelist of this one member panel, based on the Paragraph 4i of the Policy, gave his decision in writing on the date 6th of February of 2001: the domain name registere d by respondent is confusingly similar to the trademark in which the complainant has rights, and that the respondent has no right or legitimate interest in respect of the domain name, and that the respondent's domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. Accordingly, the Panel requires that the registration of the domain name ehaier.net be transferred to the complainant.

6. Conclusions

For all of the foregoing reasons, the Panel decides that the domain name registered by respondent is confusingly similar to the trademark in which the complainant has rights, and that the respondent has no right or legitimate interest in respect of the do main name, and that the respondent's domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. Accordingly, pursuant to Paragraph 4i of the Policy, the Panel requires that the registration of the domain name ehaier.net be transferred to the complain ant.

7. Signature

This decision was made in Beijing, China, on the 6th day of February of 2001.

(s) Zhou Lin

Presiding Panelist