Offer Fast Track UDRP Without ICANN Approval? — WIPO to
WIPO plans to make fast-track UDRP on its own.
Managing Intellectual Property published an article today saying World Intellectual Property Organization will offer a fast-track UDRP starting next year.
No, this is not the proposed “Uniform Rapid Suspension”. And, as stated by the article, WIPO states it can introduce this “Fast Track” without any interaction from ICANN.
How can WIPO do this? It plans to make changes to its supplemental UDRP rules. These are the rules that each arbitration provider adds to ICANN’s rules. The rule changes will be open to a 30 day comment period, as stated by the article.
It’s unclear exactly what will be different in fast track, other than getting a response back from the panel faster. But WIPO states it expects up to 50% of disputes to be handled under fast track and it will cost significantly less than the regular UDRP.
What is clear is that WIPO hopes to win over a lot of clients (i.e., complainants) with this fresh plan thanks to venue shopping. Complainants will like the lower fees, faster turnaround, and higher likelihood of success. That means National Arbitration Forum would have to follow suit or lose more clients to WIPO.
I have a call into WIPO and a number of domain attorneys to understand more regarding WIPO’s plans, and will update accordingly.
