LEGAL REPORT: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
CIPO puts privacy first
WHOIS searches will no longer provide just any inquiring party with personal information of domain name registrants.
BY HEL EN BURNE T T I
ntellectual property lawyers who specialize in trademarks may soon have a more difficult process ahead of them for finding out who is behind domain names, as
they grapple with impending changes to the way the personal information of individual registrants is disclosed. Their
colleagues in the patent sector, however, are in the middle of a new pilot project that could make things quicker and easi- er for clients filing patent applications in both Canada and the United States.
Three years after an initial public consul-
tation, the Canadian Internet Registra- tion Authority (CIRA) is set to introduce changes to several aspects of WHOIS searches next month. At the moment, WHOIS searches can
easily be used to identify the administra- tive contact of domain names ending in .ca and currently include personal
www. C ANADIAN mag.com M AY 2008 47
ILLUSTRATION: HUAN TRAN
