Extracted from WIPO news (http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2017/article_0003.html)

March 15, 2016, WIPO announced that trademark owners filed over 3,000 cases under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) with WIPO in 2016, an increase of 10% over the previous year.

There are over 1,200 new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) now operational, among which, over 340 new gTLDs came online in 2016. Meanwhile cybersquatting disputes relating to new gTLDs rose to 16% of WIPO’s 2016 caseload, which covered a total of 5,374 domain names. .XYZ, .TOP and .CLUB are most common new gTLDs in dispute.

It’s reported that UDRP cases in 2016 involved parties from 109 countries.  Among the countries where filings originated, the U.S. remained first with 895 cases filed, followed by France (466), Germany (273), the U.K. (237) and Switzerland (180).           

Among the top five filing countries, France (+38%) saw the highest growth in cases filed.

The top sectors of complainant activity were banking and finance (12% of all cases), fashion (9%), heavy industry and machinery (9%), internet and IT (8%), biotechnology and pharmaceuticals (7%) and retail (7%).

Philip Morris leads the list of filers – 67 cases – followed by AB Electrolux (51) and Hugo Boss, LEGO, and Michelin (42 each).

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said:  “The continuing growth in cybersquatting cases worldwide shows the need for continued vigilance by trademark owners and consumers alike.”

He also mentioned that “This is even more important as a considerable number of these disputes involve incidents of online counterfeiting”.

“In such cases, WIPO assists in restoring these domain names to trademark owners, thereby curbing consumer deception.” He continued.

Since the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center administered the first UDRP case in 1999, total WIPO case filings passed the 36,000 marks in 2016, encompassing over 66,000 domain names.