Cease and desist letters sent to domain name holder
Website takedown (trademark or copyright)
Negotiations to find an amicable settlement
Alternative dispute resolution
Procedures filed before Arbitration bodies (URDP, URS), including:
1
Study the likelihood of success
2
Prepare all the documents
3
Draft the legal grounds
4
File the complaint
5
Follow up of the proceeding
6
Transfer the domain name
Recovering a domain that infringes your rights
When a third party registers a domain that reproduces your trademark, three paths lead to its recovery or its shutdown: an amicable solution, an alternative dispute resolution procedure, or a court action. Our legal department, built around a former trademark attorney, chooses the path with you and conducts it, for generic extensions and for the country code domains where each registry has its own procedure.
The three paths
- Amicable. A cease-and-desist letter, a negotiation, or the purchase of the name through an intermediary. Fast and cheap when the holder acts in good faith or simply wants to sell; useless against an organised fraudster.
- Alternative dispute resolution. For generic extensions, the uniform dispute procedure and, for the newer ones, the faster suspension procedure. For country code domains, the procedure of the registry or of the national arbitration centre it has designated; some extensions have none, and a court is then the only way. A decision under the uniform procedure usually comes within about two months of the filing.
- Court action. Longer and more expensive, but the only path when the dispute goes beyond the domain: damages, counterfeit goods, a defendant who does not answer, or an extension without a procedure.
What you need to win
- Rights. A registered trademark, ideally earlier than the domain and valid in the country of the extension; failing that, evidence of prior use and reputation.
- Bad faith. Evidence that the holder knew your brand and profits from it: a parking page with your competitors' advertisements, a copy of your site, a phishing page, an offer to sell you the name, a pattern of similar registrations.
- Documentation. Dated screenshots, the public registration record and its history, the emails received. A domain watch gives you this evidence from the first day.
How we work a case
- Assessment. We compare your rights, the domain, its use and the procedure available for its extension, and tell you the chances and the cost before you commit.
- Filing. We draft the complaint with the evidence, file it with the dispute provider or the registry, and follow the exchanges until the decision.
- Enforcement. After a favourable decision, the registrar of the domain must transfer it or delete it; we make sure it happens and bring the name into your account, where it joins your portfolio.
Costs and timing
A procedure costs the fee of the dispute provider, which depends on the number of domains and of panellists, plus our legal work; a court action costs more and lasts longer. We quote each case individually, once we have assessed it. The best cases are the ones prepared in advance: a trademark registered in the countries that matter, a domain watch that documents the infringement from day one, and a domain policy that says who decides.
Before the dispute
Most recovered domains could have been registered defensively for the price of a yearly fee. Our global domain strategy service finds those gaps; our trademark registration service gives you the rights you will need; our watching service tells you in time. Send us the domain and your trademark, and we come back with an assessment.
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