WIPO Goes To Bat For Trademark Owners At ICANN

The World Intellectual Property Organization has urged the organisation responsible for the internet domain name system to step back from revising its procedures for judging disputes about cybersquatting. WIPO said a 6 May letter that ICANN has not sufficiently taken trademark owners’ concerns into account.

At issue is an effort by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to review its Uniform Dispute Resolution Procedures (UDRP).

“Even when it comes to trademark policies, IP institutionally appears to occupy only a minor ICANN role,” WIPO’s Erik Wilbers of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre said a sharply worded letter to ICANN.

“ICANN revision of the UDRP is a choice, not an inevitability,” he said. “For a number of reasons, we counsel: don’t go there.”

The WIPO letter is here [pdf].