Insights, analysis, and commentary on international arbitration, domain name disputes, and related legal developments.
The Legal Rights Objection in ICANN’s gTLD program protects trademark and other rights holders by allowing challenges to applied-for strings that unfairly exploit, impair, or confuse existing legally recognized rights globally.
The string confusion objection prevents delegation of confusingly similar gTLDs, assessed from the perspective of the average Internet user, requiring probable confusion rather than mere similarity under ICANN’s 2012 and 2026 Applicant Guidebooks.
In 2012 ICANN announced “The Dot is Making New Friends”, launching gTLD expansion. A 2026 round continues DNS evolution, increasing competition, introducing structured objections, safeguards, and extensive domain name system diversification globally.
The UDRP requires complainants to prove bad faith registration and use, targeting cybersquatting, including passive holding, sale intent, confusion-based gain, and other indicia assessed through circumstances and evidence.
Complainants must prove respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests, shifting burden after prima facie case, while respondents may rely on bona fide use, common name, or fair use defenses available.
The UDRP requires complainants to prove trademark rights, confusing similarity, and bad faith. This post explains the first element, focusing on trademark rights, common law evidence, and the low threshold for confusing similarity.
Arbitration agreements depend on consent and complex choice-of-law rules governing validity, with divergent approaches to applicable law; recent practice and reforms aim to clarify whether main contract law or seat law governs interpretation and enforceability.
Romania’s .ro registry has adopted a UDRP variation introducing GI protection, procedural modernization, and key change to the third element allowing proof of bad faith registration or use alternatively instead of cumulatively.
This post analyses recent UDRP decisions on delay in bringing claims, examining whether long time gaps affect admissibility or success, and how panels assess bad faith registration despite significant passage of time between registration and complaint.
This post analyzes Bucharest Court of Appeal decisions (June 2024–June 2025) on setting aside CICA-CCIR arbitral awards, focusing on extra petita, reasoning, public policy grounds, and rare annulments, confirming pro-arbitration judicial practice overall.
In this post I analyse recent UDRP decisions on refiled complaints, examining exceptional circumstances where panels accepted refiling and whether outcomes changed compared to earlier decisions in prior cases respectively.
Banks and financial institutions are frequently targeted in UDRP cases through fraudulent domain names used for phishing, impersonation, malware, gambling, and competing services, reflecting high risks of cybersquatting and consumer harm.
Recent UDRP decisions assess respondents’ claims of genuine commercial use to establish rights or legitimate interests, distinguishing bona fide independent businesses from pretextual activity targeting trademarks, with outcomes varying case-by-case.
UDRP panels examine claims that respondents are “commonly known” by disputed domain names under paragraph 4(c)(ii). Recent cases show that mere name similarity is insufficient without evidence, and panels require proof of genuine use and absence of cybersquatting indicators.
UDRP panels assess whether respondents engage in a pattern of abusive domain name registrations under paragraph 4(b)(ii). Recent cases show that multiple prior cybersquatting findings may support bad faith, but not where legitimate or dictionary-based explanations exist.
The EFTA Court held that greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of extracted oil and gas are “effects” under the EIA Directive, requiring assessment at the extraction stage, including downstream climate impacts for effective public participation.
UDRP complainants must prove registered or unregistered trademark rights. Panels require evidence of acquired distinctiveness, while fraud may support but cannot replace proof of recognition as a source identifier in cybersquatting cases.
UDRP panels assess PPC landing pages in cybersquatting disputes. Such use is often illegitimate when it capitalizes on trademarks, though dictionary meanings, bona fide preparations, or other circumstances may justify exceptions.
UDRP enables swift resolution of cybersquatting disputes. Respondents may establish legitimate interests by demonstrating bona fide preparations to use a domain name, assessed through evidence of genuine business activity development.
UDRP proceedings are generally conducted in the language of the registration agreement, though panels may depart from this rule based on fairness, evidence of language comprehension, and overall circumstances, often relying on website content and party conduct.
UDRP is a fast cybersquatting remedy resolved in 2–3 months through limited written submissions, where supplemental filings are exceptional and generally excluded unless justified by new, previously unavailable evidence and admitted at the panel’s discretion.
UDRP jurisdiction is grounded in contractual consent embedded in ICANN and registrar agreements, binding domain name holders to mandatory administrative proceedings, while recent practice shows that panels increasingly reject jurisdiction objections and confirm the Policy’s limited cybersquatting scope.
UDRP jurisprudence holds that fair use may support legitimate interests only where criticism is genuine and noncommercial, but domain names identical or misleadingly similar to trademarks often create impermissible impersonation risks that disclaimers cannot cure.
UDRP panels consistently hold that website disclaimers rarely cure abusive domain name use. If unclear, hidden, or posted alongside infringement, disclaimers may instead evidence confusion, bad faith, or lack of legitimate interests in the domain.
UDRP panels may consolidate complaints against multiple respondents when domain names appear under common control and consolidation is fair. Recent decisions examine shared registrants, websites, timing, and evidence, allowing or rejecting consolidation depending on circumstances.
UDRP cases show lawyers’ trademarks are frequently targeted through impersonation, phishing, and bogus websites, and success depends on proving trademark rights and strong evidence of commercial use or acquired distinctiveness, while passive or unsupported claims are usually rejected.
UDRP panels may order domain transfer based on respondents’ unilateral consent, but still issue merits decisions where consent is unclear, disputed, conditional, or where broader interests such as bad faith patterns, denial of wrongdoing, or complainant preference require substantive adjudication.
UDRP panels generally reject corporate-name defences when company incorporation is opportunistic or pretextual to target trademark owners, but accept them where the respondent proves genuine, long-standing business use and absence of intent to exploit the complainant’s trademark rights.
A UDRP panel ordered transfer of domain names incorporating BOOKING.COM, finding that the respondent’s trademark was obtained to strengthen his position in a dispute and target the complainant’s well-known mark, rather than reflect genuine commercial use or legitimate interests.
The General Court upheld invalidation of “La Irlandesa” for bad faith, finding the applicant intended to exploit Irish-origin associations despite selling non-Irish goods, reflecting dishonest commercial intent at filing.
Celebrities may protect personal names under the UDRP as registered or common law trademarks, but must prove use in commerce and acquired distinctiveness through evidence of commercial recognition and branding.
Recent UDRP decisions reaffirm application of the Oki Data test to assess reseller and ancillary service websites, requiring use, disclosure, and non-competing offerings to establish legitimate interests under domain disputes.
Counterfeit goods harm trademark owners and consumers, and UDRP panels allow swift action against online sales, relying on evidence, including circumstantial proof and Oki Data principles, to establish illegitimate use and bad faith registration.
EUIPO Board of Appeal held that re-filing of similar trademarks does not automatically constitute bad faith absent evidence of intent to circumvent proof of use rules or lack of commercial logic in the application.
Medicine trademarks face special legal rules beyond trademark law, and UDRP panels consistently find bad faith where domain names are used for illegal online pharmaceutical sales, especially prescription drugs, posing risks to consumers and brand owners.
WIPO UDRP panel ordered transfer of , finding the respondent registered a dictionary-term domain not for its generic meaning but to target the complainant’s trademark and profit from its source-identifying value through resale.
WIPO UDRP panel refused transfer of smart-robotics.com, finding PPC links related to dictionary meaning legitimate use and no evidence of targeting or bad faith registration despite the complainant’s trademark infringement allegations.
EWCA in Sky v SkyKick held that lack of intention to use a trademark does not automatically constitute bad faith; assessment depends on all circumstances, including commercial justification, trademark scope, and consistency with honest trade practices.
UDRP reverse domain name hijacking arises where complainants abuse proceedings in bad faith, including misleading filings, ignoring precedent, or lack of legitimate claims, with panels assessing conduct and evidence to prevent abusive domain name disputes.
WIPO amended its Arbitration Rules to prioritize electronic filing, enable remote hearings, require early disclosure of third-party funding, and reduce fees, reflecting sustainability goals and broader adoption of online tools in international arbitration proceedings.
EUIPO Cancellation Division invalidated Banksy-related figurative trademark for bad faith, finding filing aimed at circumventing copyright enforcement limits and genuine use requirements while preserving anonymity rather than functioning as a source identifier in trade.
General Court rejected Hasbro’s challenge, holding that re-filing identical MONOPOLY trademarks for identical goods constituted bad faith where intended to extend grace period and circumvent genuine use requirements under trademark.
UDRP addresses global domain name disputes by applying primarily its own rules rather than national laws, offering a predictable framework to combat cybersquatting while occasionally referencing domestic laws for specific issues
The UDRP provides a swift, global ADR mechanism against cybersquatting, requiring proof of confusing similarity, lack of legitimate interest, and bad faith, offering trademark owners efficient protection and remedies.
The UK Supreme Court in Enka v Chubb held that the law of the main contract generally governs the arbitration agreement, with the seat’s law applying only as a default.
The Enka v Chubb ruling affirms that the arbitration seat implies the governing law of the arbitration agreement, prioritizing curial law and reinforcing courts of the seat’s authority over disputes and anti-suit relief.
The blog is for informational purposes. The articles published on this blog, current at the date of publication set out above, are for reference purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action.
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