INTA Events Eye Trends in Domain Name Enforcement Published: May 26, 2021
Todd Williams Stripe, Inc. San Francisco, California, USA Chair, Internet Committee
The extent to which widespread lockdowns have led businesses and consumers to online shopping is among many disruptions caused by the worldwide pandemic and it is particularly important for brand owners. By one estimate, e-commerce’s share of global retail grew from 14 percent in 2019 to about 17 percent in 2020. And as commerce moved online, the potential for trademark misuse moved with it.
For that reason, INTA has been providing the intellectual property (IP) community with more educational opportunities on Internet-
Several factors have converged to drive a dramatic increase in Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) filings. The large-scale redaction of domain-name registrant data, increases in the number of malicious actors due to COVID-related unemployment, and the unprecedented acceleration of e-commerce adoption have all played a part in driving a record increase in UDRP case filings.
This webcast will examine the current and future state of the UDRP (and domain-name enforcement more broadly). The expert panel will discuss, among other topics: the surge in cases of domain-name infringement and the corresponding burst of UDRP filings (including ccTLD cases), the effective use of the UDRP as part of an overall enforcement program (including the economic implications and complexities of multiple-domain UDRP filings), and technologies for finding, investigating, and attributing infringing domain names. Finally, the panel will analyze and assess the potential policy changes that ma