March 17, 2009

Allegations of cybersquatting by trademark holders continued to rise in 2008, with a record 2,329 complaints filed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center.

In a report containing details on cybersquatting the WIPO Director General also took the opportunity to comment on the New gTLD process. “The creation of an unknowable and potentially vast number of new gTLDs raises significant issues for rights holders, as well as Internet users generally,” said Mr. Francis Gurry, WIPO Director General. “Cybersquatting remains a serious issue for trademark holders .”

This statement comes after ICANN has agreed to form a committee specifically to address these and other concerns of trademark holders before moving forward with approving new gTLDs.

Read the full WIPO release