[AfrICANN-discuss] The latest on Cybersquatting

Sun Mar 22 13:19:00 SAST 2009

FYI,
Pierre D.
 Latest Cybersquatting Stats from
WIPO<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090316_latest_cybersquatting_stats_wipo/>

http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090316_latest_cybersquatting_stats_wipo/

   - Mar 16, 2009 12:23 PM PDT
   - Comments: 2<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090316_latest_cybersquatting_stats_wipo/#comments>
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By *CircleID Reporter* <http://www.circleid.com/members/501/>
[image: Latest Cybersquatting Stats from WIPO]

According to latest reports from the World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO <http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/>), allegations of
cybersquatting by trademark holders continued to rise in 2008, with a record
2,329 complaints filed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution
Policy (UDRP <http://www.icann.org/en/udrp/udrp-policy-24oct99.htm>). This
represented an 8% increase over 2007 in the number of generic and country
code Top Level Domain (gTLDs and ccTLDs) disputes handled and brings the
total number of WIPO cases filed under the UDRP since it was launched ten
years ago to over 14,000. To improve efficiency and respond to growing
demand, WIPO has proposed an "eUDRP
Initiative<http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/amc/en/docs/icann301208.pdf>”
[PDF] to render the UDRP paperless.

*Countries Involved*

Since the launch of the UDRP in December 1999 through December 2008, the
WIPO Center has received 14,663 UDRP or UDRP-based cases—both
gTLDs<http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/gtld/>and
ccTLDs <http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/cctld/>—covering 26,262 separate
domain names. US, France, UK, Germany, Switzerland and Spain were the most
frequent bases for complainants, while the US, the UK, China, Spain, Canada,
and France were the most represented countries by named respondent party.

 English was the most common language for WIPO case proceedings (86%) in
2008 as the majority of domain names involved were registered with US-based
registrars. Cases were also processed in 12 other languages, including (in
order of frequency) Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Chinese, Korean,
Japanese, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Hebrew and Portuguese. The character
set of the disputed domain names themselves remained overwhelmingly ASCII
(English alphabet), with a small number of names in Chinese, French, Hebrew,
Spanish, and Swedish.

*Generic TLDs Involved*

The .com gTLD remained the solid leader in terms of the number of domain
names included by complainants in cases filed with WIPO (79%).

 *Sectors Involved*

According to data from WIPO, in 2008 cases covered a wide variety of
sectors, reflecting prevailing public interest, business activity and
upcoming events (e.g., Singapore Flyer observation wheel, Madrid 2016
Olympic bid, Montreal Jazz Festival, Golden Globes); transportation (e.g.,
Air France, Austrian Airlines, BMW, Lufthansa, Southwest Airlines, Subaru);
hotels (e.g., Taj Hotels, InterContinental Hotels, The Sheraton/Westin
Hotels); media and publishing (e.g., the BBC, Edmonton Journal, National
Geographic, Harvard University Press); educational institutions (e.g., The
John Hopkins University, Sydney University, Yale University, TOEFL);
computers and electronics (e.g., Research in Motion's BlackBerry, computer
manufacturer Gateway, Samsung); sports teams, leagues and personalities
(e.g., English Premier League, the Arsenal Football Club, as well as its
player Cesc Fàbregas, yachting's Volvo Ocean Race, former basketball star
Dennis Rodman, Adidas); actors and personalities past (e.g., Ian Fleming,
Gene Kelly) and present (e.g., Scarlett Johansson); fashion (e.g., Christian
Dior, Lancôme); popular culture (e.g., Barbapapa, Bob the Builder, Marvel
Comics' Xmen); numerical identifiers (e.g., 4711); and other familiar
enterprises and groups such as Breitling, Canada Post, Coca-Cola, Ebay,
Ghirardelli Chocolate, the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO), Google, Hard Rock Café, LEGO, Nestlé, Ticketmaster, and Western
Union. A case was also filed by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in relation
to the Monticello estate.

The top five sectors for complainant business activity were biotechnology
and pharmaceuticals, banking and finance, Internet and IT, retail, and food,
beverages and restaurants.

 WIPO's complete announcement can be found
here<http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2009/article_0005.html#3>.

*Other sources:*  UPDATED Mar 18, 2009 11:16 AM PDT
WIPO Cybersquatting Report Ignores Real UDRP
Trends<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090318_wipo_cybersquatting_report_ignores_real_udrp_trends/>Antony
Van Couvering, Mar.18.2009
WIPO's Misleading
Release<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090317_wipo_misleading_release_domain_disputes/>Michael
Geist, Mar.17.2009
Record Cybersquatting Cases As WIPO Seeks New Trademark
Protections<http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/03/16/record-cybersquatting-cases-as-wipo-seeks-new-trademark-protections/>IP
Watch, Mar.16.2009
Record cases of 'cybersquatting' in 2008:
UN<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090316_latest_cybersquatting_stats_wipo/Cybersquatting%20cases%20hit%20record%20in%202008>Reuters,
Mar.16.2009
UN warns on new web
domains<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/15710d0e-1172-11de-87b1-0000779fd2ac.html>FT,
Mar.16.2009

*Related topics:*
Cybersquatting<http://www.circleid.com/topics/cybersquatting>,
Domain Names <http://www.circleid.com/topics/domain_names>, Domain
Registries <http://www.circleid.com/topics/domain_registries>,
Law<http://www.circleid.com/topics/law>,
Top-Level Domains <http://www.circleid.com/topics/top_level_domains>
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