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The number of people buying a website with a trademark name solely to flip it to the rights-holder for an inflated price has reached a record high. Complaints to the WIPO about ‘cybersquatting’ surged last year to 2,156, up by a fifth on 2006, and almost double the number reported in 2005. The growth in abusive domain name registration sites was blamed for the unprecedented number of victims, which included the Prince’s Trust, The Simpsons and Martha Stewart. According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, the UN agency tracking cybersquatting, the examples are fitting, as the US is the likeliest target, followed by the UK in third. Pharmaceutical manufacturers remained the top filers, followed by the finance industry, and then the internet and technology industries, which last year represented about 10% of all complaints. Seven out of ten cases seen by the WIPO concerned the.com TLD, although last year it conceded some ground to the .net, .info and .mobi domains, compared to 2006. And trademark holders normally win if they dispute: 85% of all complaints to the WIPO resulted in the domain name being overturned to their ownership, though 15% were rejected. Pointing to the global expansion of the internet as one reason, the group noted that in 2007 alone; the number of countries affected by cybersquatting rose to 96, up from 72 in 2000. “These increases confirm that cybersquatting remains a significant issue for rights holders,” said Mr. Francis Gurry, WIPO’s deputy director-general. But the jump in the number of cybersquatting spats was more to do with abusive registration practices, mostly in the US, and the ability for squatters to profit by putting paid links on their victims’ sites. Mr Gurry said that “the potentially useful purposes of any new domains” are being “frustrated” even more by being filled with automated pay-per-click adverts. Observers add that despite the impression that a cyber squatter is an individual who secures a website with a trademark URL to get payout from its brand, companies also cyber squat to block their rivals owning the site. Apr 4, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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