Re: [ga] Re: Weikers position on UDRP

["Louise Ferguson" <louise.f@ntlworld.com>]

> "Ronald N. Weikers" wrote:
> >
> >         First, we should give panelists the discretion to award the
prevailing
> > party their attorney's fees and costs from the non-prevailing party
(like
> > the U.S.'s Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act), in order to
deter
> > reverse domain name hijacking.

Surely setting a higher filing fee would act as a deterrent: $1500
(depending or arbitrator) seems a low price for putting someone's business
in jeopardy. This would also
provide the panellist with realistic recompense for deciding what are often
complex cases with >100 documents filed as evidence, sometimes in several
languages.
$4-5,000 (split arbitrator/panelists) seems a more reasonable fee to me, and
is still a lot less than a lawsuit.

> >         Fourth, in the case of generic marks -- i.e., common words used
for common
> > goods/services, such as "Apple" for apples --, and in the case of
> > geographic regions, the first to register the domain name should have
the
> > right of ownership.

Some kind of administrative filter to weed out these cases before they reach
the panel stage seems appropriate here. If you are going to have a principle
that for certain types of expressions the 'trademark clause' of UDRP does
not apply - and so the UDRP does not apply - then it seems a great waste -
and unnecessarily stressful and expensive for those concerned - to have
hearings for them at all.

Louise Ferguson

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