A Better Idea

[Michael Dillon <michael@memra.com>]

On Tue, 14 Jan 1997, William M. Gilligan wrote:

>         I agree the present system needs reworking, but the wait is not the
> answer.         Why not make a 'window of opportunity' for all companies to
> submit - and reserve - their already tradmarked / registered names. They
> won't need to use them, just get them held. That would answer all the
> problems. Why, a fee could even be charged for this.

I think that Gilligan has the germ of a better idea here.

If WIPO would operate a central registry of marks that any mark holder can
list their names in for the purpose of receiving notification of new
domain name registrations then we could have this scenario.

1. User submits new domain name registration form to registrar

2. Registrar processes it and submits transaction to CORE

3. CORE updates central database and appends transaction to the daily
   gazette. CORE also brodcasts transaction to real-time update
   subscribers. WIPO is one of these.

4. WIPO receives new domain transaction and runs their own searches
   and comparisons for THEIR CUSTOMERS, the domain name owners. 

5. If they discover a match or potentially confusing name, they inform
   all the mark holders about it.

Notice, no 60 day waiting period is needed. CORE acts on behalf of the
domain name owners as their registry and publisher. WIPO acts on behalf
of the mark owners as their watchdog.

And most importantly, if a trademark owner disputes a domain name two
years down the road, the first question the defense lawyer will ask is
"Did your company subscribe to the WIPO marks registry?". If the answer is
no, the second question he will ask is, "Why should this court take you
seriously when you have already showed that two years ago you were not
interested in taking prudent action to protect your mark?".

This does *NOT* require case law as far as I can see. 

And the WIPO marks registry can serve many other purposes than just domain
name conflict searches. The same sort of notification can be done whenever
a new mark is registered with the WIPO registry. 

Michael Dillon                   -               Internet & ISP Consulting
Memra Software Inc.              -                  Fax: +1-604-546-3049
http://www.memra.com             -               E-mail: michael@memra.com