The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is to be lobbied to create a ‘loser pays’ domain name dispute system.
Ahead of ICANN’s board meeting, which will take place between February 28 and March 1, the Governmental Advisory Committee is expected to flesh out a proposal to modify the Uniform Rapid Suspension framework, reports thedomains.com.
The move comes after the U.S. Department of Commerce put pressure on GAC to make the domain name system more amenable to trademark owners.
Under the current system, domain name holders have to pay their own fees if they lose, but the new rules would make them responsible for the trademark holder’s legal fees as well, the Web site reports.
The Department of Commerce also wants registries to be forced to hand over disputed domain names to the trademark owner — as opposed to just suspending them.
Recently, Microsoft won a series of domain name disputes relating to its Kinect brand.