02/03/2022
A year ago we reported that there had been a notable rise in the number of domain name disputes filed with the World Intellectual Property Office’s (‘WIPO’) Arbitration and Mediation Center under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (‘UDRP’) – see here. The number of complaints filed hit an all-time high in 2020 and from figures recently published by WIPO it appears that this upward trend is ongoing.
WIPO reported in its ADR (‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’) Highlights on January (available here) that 5,128 cases were filed under the UDRP, up 924 on the 2020 figure. This is a significant rise of over 22%. Since WIPO launched the service in the late 1990s, it has now dealt with almost 56,000 cases.
Domain name disputes are not the only area of IP to have seen growth in 2021. Last year also saw the biggest swell in the number of International Trade Mark Application filings since 2005. In an article published on 10 February (available here), WIPO reported that 73,100 International Trade Mark Applications had been filed – a rise of 14.4%. The European Intellectual Property Office (‘EUIPO’) also reported an increase of nearly 12% in the number of Trade Mark Applications filed in 2021 (report available here).
We don’t know what the remainder of 2022 will bring from an IP point of view but, based on recent trends, IP filings and disputes appear set to continue to grow. If you have any questions about domain names, trade marks, patents, designs, or any other IP queries, please do get in touch with the R&G team.
This article is for general information only. Its content is not a statement of the law on any subject and does not constitute advice. Please contact Reddie & Grose LLP for advice before taking any action in reliance on it.
