WIPO Produces Case Book Of Domain Name Disputes

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

29 March 2005

WIPO has produced a summary of its 7,000 domain name dispute decisions since 1999, organized to give practitioners guidance on trends in frequently litigated issues.

Disputes about domain names under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and Rules are referred to the World International Property Organization's panels, and it is the resulting panel decisions (all of them available on-line) that WIPO has now codified into what amounts to a statement of domain name case-law.

Says WIPO: 'Decision-making authority under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and Rules (UDRP) lies exclusively with the appointed panels. To assist awareness of their views on certain questions that commonly arise in proceedings under the UDRP, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center has produced the following informal overview of panel positions on key procedural and substantial issues. Decision references supporting each line of opinion are included, with over 100 decisions from over 80 different UDRP panelists listed.

'While some of the listed issues arise only infrequently, all of them are, or are perceived to be, relevant to the operation of the UDRP. On most of these issues, consensus or clear majority views have developed. Certain other questions continue to attract a diversity of views. The Center’s identification of questions and evaluation of opinions is based on the 7,000 UDRP cases it has administered through February 2005. Broad information on all views is available from the Center’s online legal index of decisions (http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/search), as well as from the full posting of all decisions.

'This overview is created in recognition of the need that has been expressed to identify, as much as possible, consensus among UDRP decisions, so as to maximize the consistency of the UDRP system. It should be understood that, with UDRP decisions covering a multitude of facts and arguments, genuine differences of opinion may be difficult to avoid on particular issues, all the more so where panelists and parties come from a multitude of jurisdictions. However, it is hoped that this update on the UDRP experience will be found helpful by identifying views expressed by panels and providing decisions which help to put those views in context.

'While predictability remains a key element of dispute resolution systems, neither this informal overview nor prior panel decisions are binding on panelists, who will make their judgments in the particular circumstances of each individual proceeding. Also, it remains the responsibility of each case party to make its own independent assessment of decisions relevant to its case. In particular, parties should note that the present overview cannot serve as a substitution for each party’s obligation to argue and establish its case under the UDRP.

'The idea of this overview was welcomed by the WIPO Domain Name Panelists Meeting convened in Geneva in October 2004. The contents have been informally reviewed by a number of the most experienced WIPO panelists, who have also supported the public dissemination of this overview. The Center, in consultation with its panelists, will make an effort to update this document with relevant future panel decisions.'

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