DOMAIN NAMES: NEW ICANN UNIFORM DISPUTE RESOLUTION POLICY

Kador & Partner, Munich, Germany, Jennifer Clayton-Chen

According to the description published in its website (www.ICANN.org), ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) was formed to take over responsibility for the IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management, and root server system management functions previously performed by other organizations, including Network Solutions Inc. (NSI). ICANN is responsible for accrediting registrars for the registration of generic top-level domains (TLDs), at present .com,.net and .org.

In August/October 1999, ICANN adopted a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), (see www.ICANN.org/udrp/udrp-policy-24oct99.htm for details), which is effective for all ICANN-accredited registrars and is incorporated by reference into the registration agreement with parties who register a domain name. The UDRP provides, in the case of certain disputes over domain names, for a mandatory administrative proceeding before one of the ICANN accredited dispute resolution service providers, which are listed at and can be accessed from www.icann.org/udrp/approved-providers.htm. According to the status at the time of preparing this article, three dispute resolution providers are now accredited, namely the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the National Arbitration Forum, and Disputes.org. The UDRP is designed to offer trade mark owners an efficient an cost-effective mechanism for resolving disputes with cybersquatters.

The first dispute under the UDRP was filed with WIPO on December 2, 1999, one day after the new rules took effect. The case was decided on January 14, 2000, by ordering the domain name owner, a California resident, who had registered the domain name www.worldwrestlingfederation.com and had offered it for sale three days later to the World Wrestling Federation, to give up the infringing domain name. At the time of writing this article, WIPO's Arbitration and Mediation Center has already issued more than fifty decisions, which are published and can be searched on www.arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/index.html .