This post contains a selection of practical tips for those preparing to fight a domain name arbitration case. (1) Know your chances Make an assessment of your chances of winning before embarking on a dispute. You will need, at a minimum, to read and understand the rules governing the relevant kind of complaint; learn when […]
Domain Name Law Archives - SEQ Legal
Domain name disputes glossary
From “abusive registration” to “passing off” to “typosquatting”, the jargon of domain name disputes and dispute resolution can be impenetrable to the outsider. Worse, the literature is full of obscurantist acronyms like ACPA, DRS, IND, NAF, TLD and UDRP. This glossary will help you untangle the mess. Abusive registration This is a key concept under […]
Introduction to .uk domain disputes
The .uk registry is the world’s fourth largest (after the .com, .net and .de registries). It is administered by Nominet, a not-for-profit company based in Oxford, England. Nominet acts not just as the .uk registry, but also as the .uk dispute resolution service provider. Nominet does not use the UDRP for dispute resolution, but has […]
Introduction to .eu domain disputes
The creation of the .eu domain was endorsed by the European Parliament back in March 2000, but took 5 more years to become a reality. The motive for introducing a European TLD was to “accelerate electronic commerce” in the EU; it was also part of the effort to promote Community-consciousness, both within the EU and […]
Introduction to UDRP domain disputes
The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy is the grandfather of domain name dispute policies, having been approved by ICANN back in October 1999. It governs arbitration proceedings involving the most important gTLDs, including disputes about .com, .net, .org, .biz and .info domains. In addition, some ccTLDs registries have voluntarily adopted the UDRP. The UDRP […]
Nominet’s DRS Procedure: a brief guide
Nominet is the organisation responsible for the administration of the .uk top level domain, including the procedure used for the resolution of certain classes of domain name dispute. There are two basic documents governing Nominet’s Dispute Resolution Service (DRS): the Policy and the Procedure. The DRS Policy sets out the substantive grounds upon which a […]
Domain name management policies
Documented domain name management policies are exceptional. The rule is ad hoc registration of a range of domain names across a range of extensions, the domains being chosen by different people within an organisation at different times and for different purposes. The result: chaos. If you have been asked to, or have decided to, formulate […]
Domain name rights
A complainant in domain name arbitration proceedings must establish rights in the trade mark or name used to ground the complaint. For example, the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) only applies where: “[the registrant’s] domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights” […]
Buying a disputed domain name: price
Many domain name disputes settle by agreement: the domain name registrant agrees to transfer the domain name to the person making the complaint, often in exchange for payment. I am sometimes asked what price should be paid. My answer usually depends upon three factors: (i) the probability of being able to recover the domain name […]
Domain name transfers after UDRP complaint notification
One of the oddities of ICANN’s Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution is that they require the complainant to affirm, in the complaint, that a copy of the complaint has been sent to the domain name holder (Rule 3(b)(xii)). In theory, this requirement could give a fast-moving domain name holder the chance to transfer […]
