UDRP Attorney Tips | How To Respond To An UDRP Complaint?

Do you know what to do if you feel your trademark rights are being violated by another party? What if you get a notice that someone else thinks you are infringing on their trademark rights and intellectual property online? UDRP Attorney Brian Hall discusses the ins and outs of UDRP complaints with Damien Allen on today's program.

• The UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute-Resolution Policy) is process that was established by ICANN or Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, for the resolution of disputes regarding the registration and/or use of internet domain names.

• UDRP, is a process that allows somebody who believes they have trademark rights to go out and enforce those trademark rights as it relates to domain names.

• UDRP is not a lawsuit, it’s not filed in a court of law, and no monetary damages are available under the UDRP.

• Filing a UDRP does not preclude the complainant from filing a lawsuit for monetary damages or some other type of relief, injunctive or otherwise.

Play: How to Respond to a UDRP Complaint
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With: Brian Hall

Sponsored by: Traverse Domain Name Law

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Announcer:  Welcome to Domain Name Law Radio brought to you by Traverse Domain Name Law, internet lawyers specializing in complex litigation and domain law issues such as Domain Disputes, Cybersquatting, Domain Monetization, UDRP and Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act cases worldwide.  Now here’s your host, Damien Allen.

Damien Allen: Good morning and welcome to Domain Name Law Radio.  My name is Damien Allen.  Today we’re discussing how to respond to a UDRP complaint with Brian A. Hall of Traverse Legal, PLC.  Good morning and welcome to the program, Brian.

Foursquare Allows Domain Name Registration to Lapse

Social networking service Foursquare has made a common mistake: it allowed its domain name to lapse with registrar GoDaddy.  It is unclear whether this was because Foursquare maintained inaccurate WHOIS information, or whether its credit card had expired, but this is unfortunately a common issue. 

It is important to insure that your domain name's WHOIS information remains current, accurate, and complete, as the failure to maintain this information could result in the loss of your domain name.  If you have acquired trademark rights in your domain name, you may be entitled to recover it under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy or the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, but many times a party has yet to acquire trademark rights.  That is why it is important to diligently maintain your domain name portfolio, including your WHOIS information.

UDRP Arbitrator Shares Insights on Trademark, Domain Name Disputes and Cybersquatting Issues

UDRP Arbitrator Sandra Franklin offers her insights on UDRP arbitrations concerning trademarks, domain names, and cybersquatting issues in this Cybersquatting Law Radio interview. Listen or read the interview below. 

Play: Interview of a UDRP Arbitrator: Domain Name Disputes & UDRP Insights
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With: Sandra Franklin

Sponsored by: Traverse Cybersquatting Law

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“It’s interesting because parking pages tend to be the trouble spot in these, and we represent as many trademark holders as do respondent domainers, but what we always tell folks is that you can take issue with the UDRP, you can take issue with the trademark law, you can disagree with it all day long, but as a smart business person, what you should be doing is acknowledging the reality of the established precedent in this area and understand that if you put up a parking page that gravitates towards a trademark use and start showing competing ads with that trademark, then you have a very difficult time getting through the UDRP without losing your domain.”

“…if you’ve got a domain that you think is worth five or six or seven figures, then parking that page comes with risk if you have no reasonable way of excluding trademark protected ads or trademark infringement type ads on that page.”

“The software made me do it is not a defense.”

“…getting back to the reality versus the wish list of what maybe someone would want the UDRP to be and not to be, but there’s very established precedent that a registrant of a domain has a duty to control their domain.  So if you’re a domainer and you realize that’s the precedent, then you shouldn’t be banking on “the software made me do it” as a defense when you come to the point of a UDRP arbitration.”

“…parking pages are a big risk.  They tend to be the arrow through the heart in too many cases.”

“…for those bulk domainers who just have software doing it and they never “see” the domains they register, that’s fine as a business model if that’s the way you want to go, but it doesn’t help you under the UDRP and it doesn’t help you under the ACPA that you didn’t know what was in your portfolio, because there is certainly precedent out there that places some obligation to know certain things.  It’s not like Colonel Klink, “I see nothing.”  It doesn’t work very well in this case.”

Announcer:  Welcome to Cybersqatting Law Radio, brought to you by Traverse Cybersquatting Law, internet lawyers specializing in domain name disputes, resolutions and all other domaining issues. 

Enrico Schaefer:  We are here today with Sandra Franklin.  Sandra is a very experienced arbitrator and mediator.  She does UDRP arbitrations as well, through both WIPO and NAF.  Welcome to the show today.