URS Recommendation #6 The Working Group recommends that a uniform set of educational materials be developed to provide guidance for URS parties, practitioners, and examiners on what is needed to meet the “clear and convincing” burden of proof in a URS proceeding. As an implementation guidance, the Working Group recommends that the educational materials be developed in the form of an administrative checklist, basic template, and/or FAQ. Specifically, the Working Group recommends that the educational materials be developed with help from URS Providers, Practitioners, Panelists, as well as researchers/academics who study URS decisions closely. Note: This recommendation is related to URS Question #4. | URS Question #4 4a. What content and format should these educational materials have? 4b. How should these educational materials be developed? 4c. Who should bear the cost for developing these educational materials? 4d. Should translations be provided? |
Context:
About half of the Practitioners who responded to the Working Group survey agreed that there should be “more guidance provided to educate or instruct practitioners on what is needed to meet the ‘clear and convincing’ burden of proof in a URS proceeding” in light of the different laws around the world.
The Working Group noted that two of the three URS Providers did not strongly support the issuance of an Examiners Guide, at least, to the extent that the guidance is to provide direction or examples as to the distinction between clear-cut and more difficult cases.
Therefore, the Working Group recommends that the uniform set of guidance, or “educational material”, should not extend to providing Examiners with specific directions as to what is, and is not, a clear-cut case. It may be preferable to develop the educational material that is more in the nature of an administrative checklist, basic template, and/or FAQ, rather than a substantive document such as WIPO’s UDRP Overview[1].
In addition, the Working Group recommends the educational materials be developed via the collaboration of experienced parties in handling URS proceedings (i.e., Providers, Practitioners, Panelists) and researchers/academics who study URS decisions closely.
The Working Group seeks public comment on additional implementation guidance for the development of such educational materials (see URS Question #4).
