Don’t be afraid of ICANN's Intellectual Property Constituency

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Don’t be afraid of ICANN's Intellectual Property Constituency

If you would like to join ICANN’s nearly 400-member Intellectual Property Constituency but are concerned that it might be too technical or that you will be overwhelmed by material then Gregory Shatan of Abelman, Frayne & Schwab, President of the IPC is keen to reassure you.

“Some people are scared to join the IPC because they think there’s a high learning curve or it’s very technical,” “But it’s a very low learning curve and we’re very open to new members—you don’t even need to know how the Internet works.”

The IPC is also a good way to become directly involved in policy making, says Shatan. “It’s very important. You’re making real governance decisions. It’s only a slight exaggeration to say we’re running the Internet.”

As the voice of IP stakeholder concerns in ICANN’s multi-stakeholder framework, it is particularly important that the IPC is representative and active. “I would like to see more involvement from outside the EU and North America,” says Shatan. Asian and African members are particularly underrepresented.

“The bottom line is that the domain name system and the Internet are a critically important part of the world that trademark owners live in, and the IPC is the voice for brand owners. It can’t be ignored.” You can learn more at the IPC’s meeting, which is open to all INTA registrants, on Wednesday from 11:30 to 1:30 in Room 10.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

The firm has brought on board two counsel and an associate to complement two previously revealed partner hires
Bradford Newman, who has joined the firm’s new Silicon Valley office as head of complex technology disputes, discusses plans to build the practice group and attract local talent
Managing IP summarises the highlights from the IP STARS rankings for copyright and IP transactions work, the final firm rankings release of the year
Developments included the first judgment from the Nordic Baltic division, an injunction covering the UK, and a new code of conduct
Alston & Bird acted for InterDigital, while Samsung was represented by Fish & Richardson, during the arbitration process
Powell Gilbert lawyers reveal how they navigated parallel EPO proceedings and collaborated with European peers to come out on top in the Nordic-Baltic Division’s first judgment
The firms posted increases in revenue and profit per equity partner, with both giving a nod to their IP expertise
EasyGroup, the owner of the easyJet airline, said in a press release that UK-based first-instance judges are “less experienced”, bringing a long-running debate back to the fore
A cross-practice team from Mayer Brown, which included members of the firm’s IP practice, advised on the deal
María Cecilia Romoleroux discusses the challenges she has faced in her career in IP and how she hopes to improve things for the next generation of women
Gift this article