The UK-based Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has partnered with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialised agency of the United Nations.
The collaboration is aimed at ‘enhancing Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms’ (or addressing and mitigating disputes with ‘expertise and fairness’) within the global esports and video games industries.
The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center is known for handling intellectual property (IP) dispute resolution, and will work alongside ESIC, the organisation focused on integrity in esports, which clamps down on the likes of cheating, match fixing and doping in esports.
The collaboration will focus on several areas, including joint awareness-raising activities, identifying and training specialised neutral dispute resolution experts for video games and esports disputes, and more.
Marco M. Alemán, Assistant Director General, leading the IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector at United Nations agency WIPO, said:
“At WIPO, we recognise the growing importance of Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms in emerging sectors like video games and esports.”
Marco M. Alemán, World Intellectual Property Organization, a United Nations agency
“Our collaboration with ESIC signifies a commitment to providing the necessary infrastructure for fair and efficient dispute resolution within the video game industry and esports community.”
Stephen Hanna, Chief Executive Officer of ESIC, added: “This collaboration with WIPO marks the start of an unprecedented program of work for the global esports and video games industries. We are looking forward to collaborating to build new standards for integrity, dispute resolution, and IP protection in esports and video games.
“This initiative is a monumental step forward, reflective of our commitment to innovation and the long-term health of the global ecosystem.”
Related article: A few months ago, ESIC suspended several Counter-Strike players for attempted match fixing.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
