Protecting trademarks on the Internet: WIPO wades in

In 2010, the World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO)’s Standing Committee on the Law of Trademark, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) requested that the WIPO secretariat examine the joint recommendation with a view to determining, in particular, whether the new ways in which trademarks can be used on the Internet are adequately addressed by this instrument.

The secretariat presented an overview of the content and the scope of the application of the joint recommendation, as well as a preliminary analysis of whether those issues could be addressed through the principles set forth in the joint recommendation, in Switzerland in 2011.

Purpose and scope of application

The provisions of the joint recommendation aim to provide a clear legal framework for trademark owners and holders of other types of intellectual property rights that wish to use their marks on the Internet and to participate in the development of electronic commerce. The provisions are intended to facilitate the application of existing laws relating to marks, and other industrial property rights in signs, on the Internet, and to be applied in the context of: