iPOC PRESS RELEASE

             WIPO MEMBER STATES APPROVE
       THAT PREPARATIONS ARE BEING UNDERTAKEN
FOR INTERNET DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE RESOLUTION ACTIVITIES
 

The General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO), in its Twenty-First Session, held
September 22 to October 1, 1997, at the headquarters of
WIPO in Geneva, noted with approval, and without dissent,
that preparations were being undertaken by the WIPO
Arbitration and Mediation Center (the "WIPO Center")
for administration of dispute resolution activities
concerning Internet domain names, in conjunction with
the Generic Top-Level Domain Name Memorandum of
Understanding.  The WIPO General Assembly did not
express any position concerning the Memorandum of
Understanding itself.

The Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed on
May 1, 1997, in Geneva, provides for the creation of
seven new generic top-level domain names (gTLDs) for
the naming of sites on the Internet.  A set of dispute
resolution procedures are also provided for, to deal
with conflicts that may arise between holders of
second-level domain names in the seven new gTLDs and
owners of trademarks (or other forms of intellectual
property).  The procedures, which will be administered
by the WIPO Center, are particularly directed toward
issues such as the registration of famous trademarks
as domain names by third parties who intend to sell
the domain names to the trademark owners for large sums.

The envisaged dispute resolution activities will include
on-line mediation and on-line expedited arbitration under
the WIPO Rules, and a set of procedures referred to as
Administrative Challenge Panel ("Panel") procedures. The
procedural rules for Panels are under preparation by the
WIPO Center, while the substantive guidelines that would
be applied by Panels are being prepared by the interim
Policy Oversight Committee (iPOC), which was created by
the Memorandum of Understanding.  The General Assembly
did not comment on the draft substantive guidelines.

The preparations that are being undertaken by the WIPO
Center for its role in the new system involve, in addition
to the drafting of the procedural rules, inclusion in the
lists of WIPO mediators and arbitrators of additional
persons specialized in domain names and trademarks, and
development of a computer system to implement the on-line
procedures.

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For more information contact:

Albert Tramposch
interim Policy Oversight Committee (iPOC)
<atramposch@mcimail.com>
Phone (+41 22) 338-9660
FAX   (+41 22) 733-5371
<http://www.gtld-mou.org>

David Maher, Chair
interim Policy Oversight Committee (iPOC)
<dwmaher@ibm.net>
Phone (+312) 876-8055
FAX   (+312) 876-7934
<http://www.gtld-mou.org>