Posts from — January 2006

CircleID has posted a link to a new WIPO report on UDRP cases the domain name dispute resolution provider handled in 2005. A copy of the report is available here.

“‘Notwithstanding the unique effectiveness of the UDRP as a global remedy against cybersquatting, the fact that WIPO’s caseload in 2005 was the highest in four years and that many of these cases concern recently registered domain names, underlines the need for continued vigilance by intellectual property owners,’ said Mr. Francis Gurry, Deputy Director General of WIPO who oversees the work of the Center. He further noted that, while WIPO’s experience shows that UDRP disputes are heavily concentrated in the .com domain, attention must also be paid to the establishment of robust preventive mechanisms against abusive registration in new gTLDs. ‘If domain names are randomly attributed in new domains, intellectual property owners will be forced to compete with cybersquatters for their own trademarks – unless additional preventive safeguards are introduced,’ he added.”

The International Olympic Committee and TOROC, the Organizing Committee for the Turin 2006 Olympic Winter Games have won a UDRP decision against the registrant of the domain name Turin2006.com. The registrant had altered the content of the website available at the domain name after the filing of the UDRP complaint.

The Turin Olympic Games begin February 10.

It has been awhile since a UDRP panelist issued a decision in support of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking against a trademark owner. The latest RDNH decision involves the domain name AROMA.COM. In a decision issued January 16, 2006, Panelist John J. Upchurch determined that Mirama Enterprises, Inc. dba Aroma Housewares Company “attempted to abuse the administrative process to wrest control of Respondent’s domain name and take over the domain name registration.” The decision is Mirama Enterprises, Inc. dba Aroma Housewares Company v. NJDomains, Abuse Contact:abuse@mail.com c/o Gerald Gorman, NAF Case FA588486 (Jan. 16, 2006).

In a WIPO decision issued December 14, Raisio PLC and the Finnish Town of Raisio joined forces in a UDRP victory issued against the Korean registrant of Raisio.com. The case is a departure from other UDRP decisions involving city names.

Raisio plc and Town of Raisio v. Lee Joohee, Yang Youngho, WIPO Case D2005-1041 (Dec. 14, 2005).

A National Arbitration Forum panelist had denied a complaint brought against the domain name PubCheese.com. Read the decision here:http://www.arb-forum.com/domains/decisions/596032.htm.