Lessons and questions from WIPO’s UDRP statistics
Statistics released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reveal a slight rise in the number of Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) complaints filed with the provider in 2015 compared to the previous year. The increase is explained in part by the continued expansion of the domain name system (DNS) under ICANN’s new generic top-level domain (gTLD) programme.
A closer look at these statistics together with other contextualising data reveals insights into cybersquatting trends, as well as which countries have the most litigious brand owners and those whose residents are accused of the most bad faith registrations
A review of similar statistics for the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) allows participants in ICANN’s review of its rights protection mechanisms (RPMs) to identify the upward and downward trajectories of the UDRP and the URS respectively, and to consider their responses to those trends.
WIPO’s data in isolation
Legacy v new TLDs
WIPO’s 2015 statistics, which can be viewed in full at http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2016/article_0003.html, note a near 5% increase in the total number of UDRP filings at the provider over the previous year. In part this rise is due to the ever-increasing number of new domain extensions in which bad faith registrations can occur: WIPO received disputes concerning 334 names in 41 of the new TLDs.
But with more than 4,300 names having been subject to UDRP complaints in total, so-called legacy TLDs still account for the vast majority—more than 92%—of all names complained about. And within these legacy extensions, .com remains far and away the most complained-about TLD, carrying more than 70% of the burden in 2015.
As might be expected, complaints concerning the new TLDs focused on the generic newcomers, with the .xyz, .club and .email extensions accounting for more than 100 complaints altogether. The .moscow and .paris domains were the city TLDs with the most complaints (11 and ten respectively), while .tokyo and .quebec had four complaints each and .nyc and .brussels had three apiece. The most complained-about professional services TLD was .lawyer, with seven complaints, while the .attorney extension was complained about three times. That .lawyer and .attorney are the only two professionals services TLDs in WIPO’s report may say more about some lawyers’ aversion to risk than it says about trends in new TLD cybersquatting, but it is hard to know for sure.
Geographic spread
WIPO’s statistics also reveal that most complaints came from the US, as did most respondents. Table 1 shows WIPO’s breakdown of the top ten countries of origin for complainants and respondents.
Table 1: Top ten countries of origin for complainants and respondents
