The Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy, the UDRP, is the process most generic extensions use to settle claims that a domain infringes a trademark. Owners of valuable names tend to fear it more than they need to, and understand it less than they should.
This is a plain reading, not legal advice. If you have received a complaint, talk to a lawyer who handles these cases.
What a complainant has to prove
A complainant has to show all three of the following. Failing any one of them means the complaint fails.
- The domain is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights.
- The owner has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain.
- The domain was registered and is being used in bad faith.
The third element does most of the work in disputes over valuable generic names. Registering a dictionary word because it is a good word is not bad faith. Registering it to sell to the one company that owns the matching mark, or using it to trade on that mark, can be.
A UDRP panel decides who should hold a name. It does not award damages, and it does not decide who would win in court.
What a panel cannot do
The only remedies are transfer or cancellation of the domain. No money is awarded, and either side can still take the dispute to court. Where a panel finds that a complaint was brought in bad faith to take a name from its rightful owner, it can say so, a finding known as reverse domain name hijacking, though it carries no penalty beyond the record.
How owners get into trouble
Most owners who lose do so on facts they created themselves. Parking pages with advertising aimed at the complainant's market, an offer to sell sent straight to the trademark owner, or a response that never arrives before the deadline can each turn a defensible name into an easy transfer.
The safest habits are the obvious ones: keep a record of why you registered a name, keep its use away from anyone else's brand, and read every message from a dispute provider the day it arrives.
