The digital age has seen a surge in the registration of domain names, with .COM companies becoming increasingly popular as the stock market fluctuates. The rush to secure a unique online identity has led to a significant increase in domain registrations. For instance, in February 2000, over 200,000 .co.uk domains were registered, a stark contrast to the approximately 15,000 registered the previous year. By March 1, 2000, nearly 9.5 million .com domains had been registered. The domain name is a crucial part of any marketing strategy, serving as a beacon to potentially lucrative websites. However, the global nature of the internet has led to a shortage of unique domain names, causing disputes when businesses with similar names vie for the same domain. To address this, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) established a dispute resolution service through their Arbitration and Mediation Centre, following the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) dispute resolution policy.
ICANN's dispute resolution policy is specifically designed to handle disputes related to allegedly "abusive" registration of .com, .net, and .org domain names. To qualify for this procedure, three criteria must be met:
The ICANN policy document provides several examples of what constitutes bad faith.
A recent case adjudicated by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre illustrates the effectiveness of these procedures. The dispute involved the domain names "sixnet.com" and "six.net". The complaint, submitted electronically to the WIPO Centre on January 17, 2000, alleged that the domain name holder had no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name and that the domain name had been registered in bad faith.
The Panel found that the respondent had been known by the domain name "Sixnet", despite not having acquired any trademark or service mark rights. As the complainant failed to prove that @Six.Net had no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name, the application was denied. Notably, the respondents were a Canadian company, and the complainants were registered in New York. The WIPO Panel was able to bypass complex jurisdictional issues, and the decision was issued on March 1, 2000, just six weeks after the claim was filed.
By utilizing the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre, parties can achieve a cost-effective resolution to international disputes within a specified timeframe of 45 to 50 days. This approach provides a streamlined, efficient method for resolving domain name disputes, avoiding the need for lengthy and costly court proceedings.
