Comments in Response to the Secretariat's Questionnaire on the Protection of Country Names in the Domain Name System
MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
KENYA INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY OFFICE
Telegrams: "KIPO", Nairobi
Telephone: Nairobi 602210/land 606306/26 Fax: Nairobi 606312
E-Mail: kipi@swiftkenya.com
P.O. Box 51648 NAIROBI
Date: 13 February 2002
The Director General,
World Intellectual Property Organization,
34, Chemin des Colombettes,
1211 GENEVE 20 (SUISSE) SWITZERLAND.
Attn. The International Bureau
Dear Sir/Madam,
REF: QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE PROTECTION OF COUNTRY NAMES IN THE DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM
The following are our suggested answers to the above mentioned questionnaire;
i. How should the name of a country be identified (for example, by reference to the United Nations Terminology Bulletin, ISO 3166, or by some other method) and should both the long and short names of countries be protected?
Answer: The United Nations Terminology or any other universally agreed method. Both the long and short names should be protected.
ii In what languages should country names be protected?
Answer: In the UN languages that is; English, French, Arabic, Spanish, etc.
iii To what domains should any protection be extended (for example, to all, both existing and future, gTLDs, only to future gTLDs, also to ccTLDs, etc.)?
Answer: Protection should be extended to all that is to both existing and future gTLDs and ccTLDs
iv How should any alleged acquired rights be treated?
Answer: There should be no negotiation on the issue of any acquired rights as these may have been acquired in bad faith.
v. What mechanism should be used to implement protection for example, through UDRP or some other mechanism)?
Answer: Through the UDRP.
vi Should any protection extend to the exact country name only or also to misleading variations?
Answer: Protection should apply not to just the exact country name but even to misleading variations that are closely similar.
vii Should protection be absolute or should it be dependent upon a showing of bad faith?
Answer: Protection should be absolute and not just upon a showing of bad faith.
Yours sincerely,
Geoffrey M. Rarnba
For: Director