WIPO Magazine, Issue No. 2, 2002

3WIPO Magazine/February 2002A number of commercial and privateorganizations have proposedsolutions that would enable multilingualdomain name use, but node facto or technical standards thatwould guarantee interoperabilityhave yet emerged from the InternetEngineering Task Force (IETF). Theresult is a risk of confusion in themarketplace among Internet usersand providers. As Mr. Blois noted,“We do not want to run the risk offracturing access to the Internet andas a result increasing the digital dividebetween developed and developingnations.”Key Challenge: ProtectingIntellectual PropertyThe symposium provided a forumin which a diversity of views andperspectives could be shared andfuture directions could be explored.By looking at existing challengesfaced on a daily basis by intellectualproperty holders and administratorsin protecting trademarksin our multilingual world,experts in intellectual property andInternet technology shared experiencesthat may lead to a greater understandingof the issues raised byan increasingly internationalizeddomain name space. Key amongthose issues is the critical challengefaced by enterprises in protectingtheir intellectual property in a multilingualworld, both on and offline,and the need for effective disputeresolution to resolve the domainname conflicts that inevitably arise.The joint ITU/WIPO symposiumaimed to bring about a wider understandingof the many issuesraised by the implementation ofmultilingual Internet names. “Wewelcome an orderly expansion ofthe domain name system whichmore accurately reflects the linguisticdiversity of the offline world andis done in a way that preserves therights of intellectual property owners,”said Mr. Gurry. Mr. Blois notedthat this activity is part of a broaderobjective, “the true internationalizationof the Internet.”¨