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Comments by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) on the Initial Report on the IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms Policy Development Process
- To: "'comments-igo-ingo-crp-access-initial-20jan17@xxxxxxxxx'" <comments-igo-ingo-crp-access-initial-20jan17@xxxxxxxxx>
- Subject: Comments by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) on the Initial Report on the IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms Policy Development Process
- From: GUILHERME ricardo <ricardo.GUILHERME@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2017 14:28:36 +0000
Dear Sirs,
As one of the members of the "small group" of international intergovernmental
organizations (IGOs), the Universal Postal Union (UPU) associates itself fully
with the comments already made by WIPO, OECD, UN, NATO, ICAO, IADB, EBRD, IAEA,
WTO, UNIDO, Council of Europe, EPO, World Bank, WHO and CERN, and urges ICANN
to finally take the necessary steps to respect the unique legal and functional
nature of IGOs.
In that regard, we would once more emphasize the fact that the protection
afforded to IGO names and abbreviations under international law and various
domestic statutes stems from public policy considerations and goes beyond the
mere concept of "trademarks", especially since such IGO designations are, as a
matter of principle, not subject to the trademark registration requirements
outlined in ordinary national, regional and international intellectual property
frameworks (without prejudice to the possibility for an IGO to voluntarily
register its name and abbreviation as a trademark, or to register any other
trademark within the scope of its activities and projects).
Moreover, the UPU must express its clear and unambiguous opposition to certain
allegations that arbitration procedures would constitute "denial of due
process" or that arbitration would reflect a "playing field [that] is tilted
unfairly" in favour of IGOs or tainted by "poor judgement" on the part of
arbitrators. Indeed, the unsubstantiated character of these allegations can be
easily demonstrated by the fact that even the UPU itself was the subject of
negative rulings arising from the .EPOST and .MAIL objection cases under the
New gTLD Program.
In fact, it is evident from the relevant international law provisions
applicable to IGOs that each organization shall make provision for appropriate
modes of settlement (i.e. arbitration) in the light of their immunity from
every form of domestic legal process. Such allegations also seem to ignore the
fact that, even in a hypothetical scenario where an IGO expressly decides to
waive its immunity, such a waiver shall never extend to any measure of
execution.
In the light of the above, we would strongly urge ICANN to carefully consider
and appropriately deal with the long-standing, legitimate concerns expressed by
various IGOs over the last years, and to adopt, without further delay, a fair
and effective mechanism that shall recognize the unique status of IGOs in the
DNS.
Cordially yours,
Ricardo Guilherme Filho
Lawyer, LL.M., MILE
Director
Legal Affairs Directorate
T +41 31 350 35 25
F +41 31 350 31 10
Universal Postal Union
International Bureau
Weltpoststrasse 4
Case postale
3000 BERNE 15
SWITZERLAND
www.upu.int<http://www.upu.int/>
[Description : upu_logotype_rgb_positive_fr]
![JPEG image](jpgH9nqsBKOPx.jpg)
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