DOT Country Codes Turn to WIPO for Help inResolving Cybersquatting Disputes
Geneva, July 30, 2000
Press Updates UPD/2000/106
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center is providing domain names dispute resolution services for the following country administrators: Ascencion Island (.AC), Guatemala (.GT), Niue (.NU), St. Helena (.SH), Trinidad and Tobago (.TT), Tuvalu (.TV), and Western Samoa (.WS). The cases received in these country code domains (ccTLDs) so far concern the domain names expedia.nu, christies.nu, zippo.ws and broadcastamerica.tv.
The registration authorities for the country codes in which the cases have been filed have adopted the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) set by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The UDRP, formulated on the basis of WIPO recommendations and implemented since December 1999, was originally designed for settling disputes that arise in the generic top-level domains, such as .COM, .NET, .ORG. As the types of disputes within ccTLDs often are similar to those occurring within the gTLDs, the policy is also relevant to country-code top-level domains, particularly where such domains are "open". This means that the domain names can be registered by any person living in any country of the world. Country administrators can adopt the UDRP and may appoint any organization that provides dispute resolution services to settle these cases, such as WIPO's Arbitration and Mediation Center.
"At present, countries differ in the way they administer alleged cybersquatting disputes. Adoption by country administrators of the UDRP ensures uniformity and provides a quick and cost-efficient alternative to traditional dispute resolution for trademark-related disputes," said Mr. Francis Gurry, WIPO Assistant Director General.
Mr. Stephen Oronte, chief operating officer for .NU Domain Ltd, the first ccTLD to adopt ICANN's UDRP, underlined the importance of a uniform process to resolve disputes in the context of "open" domains. "Open ccTLDs need a standard method of resolving domain name disputes across the world," Mr. Oronte said. He added "We strongly believe that the UDRP process is the best standard available for reducing intellectual property infringements."
In addition, a group of countries have asked WIPO to develop voluntary guidelines intended to assist the administrators of the ccTLDs to address a broader set of issues relating to intellectual property and domain names. The UDRP pertains only to dispute settlement in relation to abusive registration of trademarks. It does not cover dispute prevention or other best practices.
The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center has so far received almost 900 cases domain names from complainants seeking to wrest back their Internet identity from alleged cybersquatters. Of these, some 350 decisions have been rendered by the neutral expert panelists that are appointed by WIPO to consider the case, with 80% of the decisions going in favor of the complainant.
"Now that the opportunity for bad faith cybersquatting has been reduced in the gTLDs due to the growing use of the UDRP, the time is ripe for ccTLD administrators to consider adopting similar measures at the country code level," said Mr. Gurry. He added "It is encouraging to see that ccTLD administrators are now adopting the UDRP or considering similar approaches. The recent case filings concerning registrations in the ccTLDs at the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center demonstrate that there is a need for this."
Earlier this month, WIPO launched the next phase in its work to stamp out the bad faith registration of domain names on the Internet and to study other intellectual property issues as they relate to the domain names system. A group of countries spearheaded by Australia (Argentina, Canada, Denmark, European Union, France, and the United States of America) wrote to WIPO Director General, Dr. Kamil Idris, requesting the Organization, in line with its mandate to promote the protection of intellectual property rights, to initiate international consultations to address outstanding issues relating to intellectual property and domain names. These include abusive registrations of trade names, geographical indications and other rights not based on trademarks. This request also calls upon WIPO to draw up a list of best practices to help administrators of ccTLD registries prevent and resolve domain names disputes. The results of this series of consultations are expected to be submitted to WIPO's member states and the Internet community in the first half of 2001. Further information about these consultations and how to participate, are available on WIPO's electronic commerce web site: http://ecommerce.wipo.int.
For further information, see Update 100 or please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:
Tel: (+41 22) 338 81 61; (+41 22) 338 95 47;
Fax: (+41 22) 338 88 10;
E-mail: publicinf@wipo.int