BPN 1214 For sale: Baidu.eu not an olympic winner

It is more than a year and a half that the brand Baidu.eu was launched by a Dutch company; besides this domain other domains like baidu.tv, baidu.nl and baidu.be were registered. These domains were not registered by Baidu.cn. On February 23, 2007 I wrote in my daily posting: The young entrepreneur had put his hopes on selling the domain name Baidu.eu to Baidu.cn and hopes to cash from the transaction. In my view it was a vulgar case of domain hijack. The moment of reckoning has come.

On September 3, 2008 Baidu Europe announced in a press release that it will sell it much wanted brand and domain names, in total 27 brand and domain names. The reason for the sale is twofold. The Asian Baidu has been propelled to theird ranking in search engines; besides Baid.cn is setting up new companies like Baidu.tv, a domain name registered by Baidu Europe. And Baidu Europe seems to become the victim of the Olympic games activities by Baidu.cn and Baidu.com. And last not but least, the company is being hindered by the (professional) Dutch marketing agency Tribal promoting the Chinese search giant in Europe (see profile in English). Yet, the owner of Baidu.eu says that the company Baidu Europe has built up a fine reputation over five years of trading.

Now the company wants to continue business under another name. the question is of course: what business. The company claimed to have 8 employees in Fenruary 2007 and it still has 8 employees in 2008. As indicated last year, you can do business with temps, especially in the university city of Groningen, where the company is located. The company was founded in 2003 and is specialised in total solution in the field of computing and webdesign. The company claimed to be in touch with a German company building a search engine for Baidu Europe.

It is surprising that Baidu.cn has never sued the owner. The company would have won the case easily and could have even claimed damages, despite the fact the owner claimed to be unfamiliar with the domain Baidu, when he registered. I am convinced that a Dutch judge would have wiped this argument off the table and judged that this was pure case of domain hijack. So, I do not see too many companies, waiting outside the door of Baidu Europe with bags of money.

Blog Posting Number: 1214

Tags: domain, domain hijacking, domain squatting