UBS's Comments in Support of RPMs in the New gTLDs

[<leo.longauer@xxxxxxx>]

> Dear Sir / Madam,
> 
> UBS is one of the world's leading financial firms and is present in
> all major financial centers worldwide, with offices in over 50
> countries. 
> 
> UBS supports and commends the majority of recommendations that have
> been made by IRT to protect brand owners and promote consumer
> protection on the Internet and thanks ICANN and IRT for the work done
> in proposing additional safeguards for the gTLD program. 
> 
> General Comment
> 
> UBS is still concerned that there is insufficient evidence to show
> that there is a real consumer demand and benefit for an unlimited
> number of new gTLDs. 
> 
> Nevertheless, if the gTLD program proceeds, we believe that the IRT
> recommendations provide a good groundwork for protecting the Internet
> user and trademark owners from abuse. However, additional work still
> needs to be undertaken to ensure that there is a process providing
> trademark owners with a quick, cheap and efficient dispute resolution
> process. 
> 
> UBS therefore urges that these issues be addressed prior to
> implementing the new gTLD program.
> 
> Globally Protected Marks List (GPML)
> 
> The implementation of the GPML is one of the keystones to protecting
> the rights of trademark owners under the gTLD program. The requirement
> that firms have a certain number of trademarks registered across all 5
> ICANN regions should ensure that the marks of globally active firms
> are included in the list. Nevertheless, UBS has concerns about the
> GPML.
> 
> We would be concerned if there were criteria requiring a large number
> of trademark registrations in all ICANN regions, as this may limit
> access to all but very large corporations. We therefore believe that
> the sheer number of registrations should not be the only criteria for
> determining if a trademark is global.
> 
> Secondly, it appears that the criteria for the GPML do not permit
> registration of obvious generic extensions to trademarks (e.g. we
> understand that UBS would be allowed to register ubs in the GPML but
> not ubsbank. or ubsfinance). We believe the GPM protection needs to be
> extended to cover obvious terms that are likely to be misused by
> cybersquatters.
> 
> Uniform Rapid Suspension System ("URS")
> 
> We support the URS as a fast and efficient approach for dealing with
> cybersquatting sites. It is, however, unclear to us why the trademark
> owner has to bear the cost burden where a URS complaint is successful.
> This is not satisfactory for trademark owners and does not appear to
> be a suitable deterrent to cybersquatters. 
> 
> UBS also supports the concept of a "frozen" domain. Nevertheless, if a
> trademark owner has to bear the costs of a URS complaint, the
> trademark owner should also have the right to have the offending
> domain name transferred without the need for a UDRP or legal action.
> 
> It is unclear to us why a complainant who does not register during the
> "pre-registration" process should have to pay a higher user fee to
> suspend an infringing site than complainants who pre-registered.
> 
> Thick Whois Model
> 
> UBS supports the thick WHOIS model as being an integral part of a
> trademark owner's ability to protect themselves against third parties
> who register infringing sites.
> 
> Yours sincerely,
> 
Leo Longauer

______________________
Leo Longauer
Head of Group Intellectual Property

UBS AG
Stampfenbachstr. 75/ZUST
CH - 8098 Zurich
Tel. +41-44-234 50 58
Mobile +41-79-476 91 47
www.ubs.com