[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] Daemyung Sono Group, which was pushing for a company name change after acquiring T'way Air, is facing an unexpected 'cybersquatting' incident.

As it was revealed that the major domains related to the new company name 'Sono Air' and 'Sono Airlines' applied for by the group have already been monopolized by third parties, the poor prior preparation during the corporate merger and acquisition (M&A) process has come under fire.

Major domains, one after another, immediately after the announcement of acquisition

'sonoair.com' was first registered by a Chinese domain company in January 2025, 'flysonoair.com' was registered by a resident of Guro-gu, Seoul in February 2025, and 'sonoair.net' and 'sonoairline.com' were all registered on the 27th, the day after Daemyung Sono became the largest shareholder of T'way Air on February 26th.

As of now, these domains have been left unattended without any particular operation, and it is assumed that they have been preempted for the purpose of squatting.

International airline domain practices and Daemyungsone's missteps

Most global airlines use intuitive domains such as 'airlineenglishname.com' and 'fly+airlineenglishname.com' as their official channels. Korean Air (koreanair.com), Asiana Airlines (asiana.com), and Air France (airfrance.com) all follow this method. However, Daemyung Sono only applied for trademark rights without taking any preemptive measures to secure a new company name domain at the same time as the acquisition of T'way Air, and the actual domains were completely exposed to the outside.

'Cyber ​​Squatting'… ExxonMobil Case and Domestic and Foreign Case Laws

A representative example is the case when, during the merger of Exxon and Mobil in 2000, Koreans took over key domains such as 'exxonmobil.com' and ExxonMobil paid about 1 billion won to get the domains back. 

Naver's 'Line (line.co.kr)' domain dispute and Samsung Electronics' 'galaxy.com' are also cited as similar cases of squatting damage both domestically and internationally.

There is no way to return the domain other than filing a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)'s UDRP (Unified Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) or individual negotiations (such as payment of money) with the domain owner.

Netizens and industry “Acquisition without such basics?”… Daemyung Sono’s ‘crazy’ business practices are on the chopping block

“It is basic to secure a domain name at the same time as applying for a trademark, but Daemyung Sono pushed ahead with the acquisition without even doing this,” is the criticism pouring in from the industry.

In fact, Daemyung Sono recently lost market trust by delaying approval for the Air Premia acquisition and causing self-inflicted damage due to the burden of the acquisition price. There were also endless controversies during the T'way Air acquisition process, such as friction with existing shareholders and excessive acquisition prices.

Controversies over the source of funds and suspicions about the use of member deposits have also been raised continuously.

Brand value and customer trust ‘shaking’… Daemyung Sono’s poor risk management

Daemyung Sono's recent domain monopoly incident is not a simple incident, but a symbolic event that reveals the laxity of brand strategy and risk management.

Industry insiders say, “Companies that fail to take care of even these basics and focus only on acquisitions will eventually lose customer trust and market reputation.” In fact, not only will additional costs be incurred for domain returns, but aftereffects such as brand confusion and marketing disruptions are also expected to be inevitable.

As a result of this incident, Daemyung Sono has been forced to face criticism that it urgently needs to reorganize its business strategy and risk management system to remain ‘true to the basics.’