WIPO：Cyber-Squatting Reached a New Record

March 26, 2009
On March 15, WIPO issued a statement that cyber-squatting complaint cases received by their Arbitration and Mediation Center last year reached a new record, including cases from football stars, movie stars, large companies, and international organizations.

According to the statement, WIPO received 2,329 domain name squatting complaint cases last year, up by 8% compared with 2007. The BBC, Yale University, Google and eBay were among those involved in the cases. In addition, the names of some football stars and movie stars were also “squatted” maliciously. Madrid, one of the bidding cities for the 2016 Olympic Game, was also involved in these cases.

Of the involved industries, pharmaceutical companies occupied a large proportion of the cases. Additionally, about 30% of the cases were resolved through negotiation, without WIPO’s arbitration. According to WIPO’s Director General, Francis Gurry, cyber-squatting was a serious problem for trademark owners. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers plans to open more domain names in the future, so there are likely to be more disputes.

　

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