News reports are surfacing that Starbucks, the international coffee franchise conglomerate, has paid over US$25,000 in legal fees in the last six months to gain ownership of both starbucks.com.cn and starbucks.cn in China.

Starbucks had their case heard by the Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, who ruled in the coffee giant's favor.

Interestingly, xingbake.com, which is the Pinyin (Romanized form of Mandarin Chinese) name of Starbucks, is still owned by a Mr. Zhao residing in Shanghai. Starbucks did not respond to inquiries about whether they are attempting buy-backs or legal action to claim xingbake.com.