Technology Dispute Resolution Services Of WIPO And UNCITRAL

What is common between World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and World Trade Organisation (WTO)? They all are engaged in one form or another of Dispute Resolution. They are also engaged in one form or another of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). However, none of them are engaged in Technology Dispute Resolution Services and Techno Legal ODR Services.

For instance, WIPO has its own Arbitration and Mediation Centre (AMC) that provides world renowned Dispute Resolution Services. However, WIPO has still to strengthen its Technology Dispute Resolution Services. One area that WIPO must pay special attention is Dispute Resolution of Cross Border Technology Transactions and E-Commerce Disputes. The future disputes would be Techno Legal in nature and WIPO must be well prepared to deal with the same.

Similarly, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has formulated the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) long before. It has stood the test of the time. However, with the passage of time, new challenges and issues have also arisen. This has necessitated bringing changes in the same. Incorporating Technology Dispute related changes can be one good option.

The UDRP has not been reviewed by the GNSO Council since its inception. Now a Preliminary Issue Report on the Current State of the UDRP has been prepared at the request of the GNSO Council and it has been posted online for public comment. The Public Comment period ends on 15 July 2011. Upon the publication of the Final Issue Report, the GNSO Council will determine whether to commence a Policy Development Process (PDP) on the UDRP.

Further, chances of future EU India Cross Border Consumer and Technology Disputes cooperation are also great. EU has been working in the direction of use of ODR for effective Dispute Resolution and it must work in association with countries like India in this regard. There is an urgent need of EU India ODR Development Dialogue between them.

Although WIPO, UNCITRAL, ICC, WTO, etc are world renowned for their Dispute Resolution Services yet in areas like Cyber Law Disputes, Cyber Forensics Disputes, E-Discovery and Digital Evidencing Related Disputes, etc, these Institutions must improve further. This trend is also apparent if we analyse the recent Internet Security Initiative jointly undertaken by ICANN and INTERPOL.

At the Indian level, Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) have been working hard in his regard. In fact, Perry4Law and PTLB have recently provided the first Technology Dispute Resolution Policy of India and ODR Policy of India. Perry4Law and PTLB are working in the direction of strengthening Technology Dispute Resolution at National and International level. We hope our initiatives would be useful for all concerned.