IS DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE RESOLUTION FAIR?
The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) was introduced by Internet addressing authorities 20 months ago, and critics have pointed out that trademark holders who file complaints under the policy win in an overwhelming majority of cases. A study released on August 20th by Internet legal expert Michael Geist, entitled “Fair.com? An Examination of the Allegations of Systemic Unfairness in the UDRP,” found that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), whose Arbitration and Mediation Center has handled 58 percent of ICANN’s UDRP cases, rules in favor of the trademark holders 82.2 percent of the time. The UDRP has produced rulings in nearly 3,400 disputes involving more than 6,000 addresses. The National Arbitration Forum (NAF) has processed most of the remaining cases, 34%, and has ruled in favor of complaining trademark holders 82.9 percent of the time. Two other arbitration firms, EResolution of Montreal, and CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution in New York, ha
