Swiss Authorities File Complaint With WIPO Over Domain Names
The Swiss government has ramped up its campaign to wrest control of three key
Switzerland-related domain names from entrepreneur Stefan Frei, it emerged last
week. Although the Swiss authorities retain control of the www.ch.ch name, which
acts as the official "Swiss Portal", plans are afoot to create separate
but linked portals in all of the country's official languages. The government has therefore called, so far to no avail, on Mr Frei to surrender
the schweiz.ch, suisse.ch and svizzera.ch domain names that he has held since
1995. In an attempt to bring an end to the long-running dispute, the matter was last
week brought before the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organisation,
which has the authority to settle such disputes. Mr Frei, whose commercial sites provide links to information on Swiss politics
and history, in addition to many Swiss-themed accessories and products, has
expressed confidence that WIPO will find in his favour, and told the Swissinfo
news service that he has invested a "considerable amount of time and money"
in the sites. The Swiss government, meanwhile, seems equally assured of victory, arguing
that a precedent had been set in Switzerland when the country's highest court
ruled in favour of two local authorities in similar disputes. .
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