(Publ. 5 SEP 2019) Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) is WIPO’s simplified procedure for resolving domain name disputes. The system has been in place for many years and has become popular due to fast and cost-effective solutions to disputes regarding domain names registered in bad faith. Now, new top-level domains are joining the system.

Not all jurisdictions and top-level domains are affiliated with UDRP. For example, China has previously not been included in the system, and IP owners have therefore been referred to Chinese courts to resolve domain disputes. From now on, it will be easier for rightful trademark owners to challenge bad faith registrations of .cn and. 中国 in China as well as .ua in Ukraine by using the WIPO dispute resolution procedure.

UDRP as a protocol for dispute resolution can be applied to domain names that are identical or confusingly similar with a trademark to which the complainant holds rights. However, it is necessary to be able to prove that the registration of the domain name, or its use, was performed in bad faith.

A different requirement from the regular design of UDRP is that the procedure is only applicable to domain names under .cn and. 中国 that have been registered for no more than three years.

Groth & Co offers administrative, strategic and legal advice on domain names, and can assist with everything from registration, monitoring and portfolio management, to creating domain name strategies, buying domain names and resolving domain name disputes.

Carl Wendt, European Trademark and Design Attorney at Groth & Co, has many years of experience in domain name issues.