Preferential domain registration gives advantage to trademark holders

• Preferential Domain Registration to the Advantage of Trademark Holders WIPO are proposing a standard course of action for the protection of Intellectual Property in respect of new generic top level domains.
• If it all goes according to the wishes of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in future all trademark owners would enjoy preferential domain registration for all new generic top level domains (TLDs).
• In the report 'New Generic Top Level Domains: Intellectual Property Considerations', (http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/rep...) the authorities have, in response to enquiries from the ICANN, recommended the introduction of uniform proceedings for protection of intellectual property for new generic top level domains (gTLDs).
• According to this, the safeguards for trademark owners or name holders should be standardized with respect to domain registration.
• 'The strategic importance of domain names for recognition in business has increased considerably', the report says.
• Experience with this type of advance action --an advantage which in future could be a major feature of registration of domains -- does already exists, with for example TLD.eu.
• The responsible authority EURid operates on two levels: here trademark owners and institutions are the foremost in getting registration, during the course of which each application is checked.
• This currently- proposed uniform action from the WIPO could be employed for those new generic TLDs which are under discussion at the moment -- such as .jobs, .travel, .name, .pro or .xxx.
• On the other hand, .info or .biz have come onto the market without such an action.
• According to the WIPO proposals, the advance checking would be done by experts in trademark regulations who possess experience in international trademark law, as is already practiced in the case of UDRP disputes.
• The WIPO had already put forward a similar proposal during the first round of introductions of new domains.