Cybersquatters spur record number of complaints
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The release of new domain names later this year has intellectual property holders worried about the growing trend of cybersquatting, which drew a record number of complaints in 2008 from organizations.
Last year's 2,329 complaints filed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) was a new record, an increase of 8 percent, according to a report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization. The total number of WIPO cases filed under the UDRP since it was launched ten years ago rose to over 14,000.
WIPO proposed in December 2008 an "eUDRP Initiative" to render the UDRP paperless at a time of increasing demand for domain names. "This is a watershed moment in the development of the domain name system and is of genuine concern for trademark holders," WIPO said.
Francis Gurry, WIPO director general, said the sale and broad expansion of new top level domains in the open market, if not properly managed, "will provide abundant opportunities for cybersquatters to seize old ground in new domains."
New gTLDs should be introduced and monitored by the domain naming organization ICANN in a controlled manner, Gurry said.
A survey of popular brand names has shown a marked increase in brandjacking and cybersquatting in the past year.
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