DOMAINTIMES: CZECH ARBITRATION COURT LAUNCHES NEW UDRP DISPUTE RESOLUTION SERVICE

The following is a news release from the Czech Arbitration Court

CAC has launched its UDRP Service

12 January 2009

The Czech Arbitration Court (CAC) is launching its Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) service on 12 January 2009 by running two initiatives designed to streamline the process and to save complainants and respondents both time and money. The CAC’s UDRP Service is available at www.adr.eu .

In January 2008 ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers, approved the CAC application to become an international provider of UDRP services. CAC has then undertaken a 10 month consultation of intellectual property owners and the legal representatives of both complainants and respondents.

The UDRP features an expedited procedure that is mandatory upon all registrants of generic Top Level Domains including .com, .org, .net, .biz, .info and .mobi. It is designed to settle disputes arising from the abusive registration of domain names.

The foundation of CAC’s UDRP service is a unique electronic platform that could revolutionise the process of filing a complaint. This platform will incorporate the results of two test projects using trial data that have been running across five continents during December 2008 featuring:

Electronic filing of documents supported by hard-copy signature (partial electronic filing)
Full electronic UDRP, or e-Filing, with users authenticating their documents with a unique Chess Card

After the tests, a formal Pilot Programme, open to all interested parties who can file complaints using Partial or full e-filing will run from January – March 2009. The results of the Pilot will be presented to ICANN for consideration.

Zbynek Loebl, head of the UDRP Implementation Team for the CAC which is a non-profit organisation based in Prague, said, “Our aim is to lessen the burden on both complainants and respondents by utilising the functionality of the internet. The preparation of a UDRP complaint or response is cumbersome and time-consuming. Currently at least four copies must be prepared and sent out by registered courier. We believe that e-filing will reduce the administrative burden and cut costs without compromising security. We are grateful to ICANN for being open to our aim and we are pleased that other UDRP providers are considering the benefits of e-filing”.

An additional innovative feature of the CAC’s UDRP service is the option for Class Complaints with the filing of a single complaint on behalf of multiple complainants. Vit Horacek, CAC’s Board member responsible for the UDRP implementation said, “We believe that the option of a Class Complaint could be very attractive to trade mark owners who wish to tackle serial cybersquatters who focus on a business sector”.

The CAC is glad to announce that persons who file the first three UDRP complaints on the CAC’s on-line platform (starting on 12 January 2009 at www.adr.eu) will be awarded electronic-only gold, silver and bronze medals respectively, accompanied by small hard-copy gifts.

Further Notes:

About the Czech Arbitration Court: The CAC is a non-profit organisation based in Prague, attached to the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic. Established in 1949, CAC manages domestic and international commercial disputes related to IP and technology matters. In 2007, CAC administered over 2,000 arbitration proceedings. Since 2005, the CAC has administered almost 1,000 .eu ADR cases for EURid, the registry operator for .eu and the European Commission. Proceedings are manged in 21 of the 22 official EU languages (the exception being Maltese) using an innovative on-line platform.
About the Electronic filing of documents supported by hard-copy signature: A filing Party – either a Complainant or Respondent - who has filed a submission using CAC’s on-line platform, will be sent a hard-copy Signature Page listing all their documents. The Filing Party confirms on this Signature Page that documents locked in the on-line case file are correct then prints the number of copies of the Signature Page prescribed by the UDRP Rules, signs and returns it to CAC‘s Service Center. Finally, the Service Center prints the whole submission and delivers it to the CAC.
About Electronic UDRP: Complainants and Respondents can submit filings using a simple and secure electronic platform without the use of paper. In order to verify the authenticity of documents, users will be issued with a unique CHESS CARD.
About Class Complaints: A single person representing multiple Complainants may file a single (Class) Complaint against a single domain name holder in respect of multiple disputed domain names. This new procedural option is governed by Section 4 (a) of the CAC’s UDRP Supplemental Rules, which requires the following conditions to be met:
- The Class Complaint is based on legal arguments applicable equally, or substantially in the same manner, to all the disputed domain names;
- the person representing the different Complainants joined in the Class Complaint must provide evidence that it he is authorised to act on behalf of each of the Complainants.
Picture editors: An image of the CHESS CARD is provided below:

Testing the CAC's UDRP Platform

We are delighted to present you an easy and flexible possibility how to familiarize yourself with our new UDRP on-line platform.

You can access our Test Platform which is available on: http://udrp.expert4me.com/. All you need to do is to click onto the on-line platform in the main menu, register your name and details and then follow the instructions.

If you have any technical difficulties, please contact the UDRP Support Team who you can reach by e-mailing support@expert4me.com.

There are several important points to note about the Test Platform:

The Log-in information you receive for the Test Platform will not work on the Live Platform.
The Test Platform is not protected by a digital certificate issued by a recognized international certification service provider. The Live Platform has received a digital certificate from Verisign.
We do not want you to use data from live UDRP cases on the Test Platform. Data from old cases with the names changed or dummy cases is all that you need.
You can request the Chess Card which will enable you to test full eFiling on the Test Platform. However, for the purposes of your testing, you will only be sent a soft copy. (On the Live Platform, participants willl be sent a hard copy of the Chess Card).
Do not test the option to pay by a credit card, you would need real data and this is outside the scope of your review. This payment option has been implemented though and the users will be able to use it in the Live Platform.
Everything that you submit on the Test Platform will be treated as Test Data. The Platform will not generate emails to third parties, ICANN or registrars although for the sake of your testing, it will appear as if such emails have been sent and confirmations received.
There will be no administrator to administer your test cases, no decisions will be issued n the Test Platform etc. The Test Platform serves only for you to get used to the on-line platform before you start using the Live Platform.

In addition to your testing our Test Platform you can participate in one of our training webinars – please click on the section Webinars in the left-hand menu to know when will the webinars be organized and how to register for them.