Former country code domain extension .pw (Palau), which relaunched last year as a generic domain serving the "professional web," announced its adoption of ICANN's latest rights protection mechanism, the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS). The .pw Registry becomes the first TLD to adopt the newest rights protection mechanism from ICANN.
Sandeep Ramchandani, Business Head of .pw Registry said, "Proactive abuse mitigation is one of our primary tenets. URS offers brand owners a highly effective, quick and inexpensive mechanism to eliminate names that violate their trademarks. We are glad to be leading from the front by becoming the first extension globally to adopt it."
The URS aims to provide trademark holders with faster protection against infringement than the existing Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). While the UDRP, a more expensive and long process, awards ownership of a domain to the winner of a dispute, the URS ensures faster protection by immediately suspending the infringing domain and then proceeding to a trial. The URS also discourages infringement and wrongful cases by charging trial fees from the unsuccessful applicant.
Kristine Dorrain, Director of Internet and IP Services, National Arbitration Forum (NAF) commented: "The National Arbitration Forum is pleased that .pw Registry has selected the URS as one of its dispute resolution options. Currently, .pw Registry is the first and only voluntary adopter of URS, in advance of the new gTLD program. The adoption of URS, in addition to UDRP, demonstrates .pw Registry's commitment to protecting the .pw domain name space from cybersquatting activity."
