Even before the year has come to an end, the number of domain name dispute cases has set another record in 2021.
I discuss this record-setting year in a new video on the GigaLaw YouTube channel.
At WIPO —the largest of the six providers for the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) — the number of domain name disputes already exceeds the record number of cases that we saw in 2020. And, in fact, the number of cases has been on the rise every year for the past eight years.
I track this data (and much more) in GigaLaw’s Domain Dispute Digest, but I didn’t want to wait until the new year to talk about the record number of cases in 2021.
While it’s impossible to predict how many more cases will be filed before the end of the year, the number of domain name disputes at WIPO is up more than 14 percent since 2020 with about two weeks left in the year. Plus, the number of cases this year is double the number from not that many years ago.
Also, the total number of disputed domain names – not just cases – has also already set a record in 2021, continuing a trend that started a few years ago. That’s because a single complaint can include more than one domain name, if they’re all held by the same registrant. For example, just last quarter, WIPO panelists issued two decisions in favor of Facebook that included more than 100 domain names each. And earlier this year Clorox received a UDRP decision for 367 domain names, and Gucci for 204 domain names. Other large UDRP cases in 2021 were decided in favor of the owners of such well-known trademarks as Chevron, Pandora, and Volvo, among many others.
Perhaps the one factor driving the surge in domain name disputes in 2021 has been the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Early on, it was obvious that the pandemic was having an important impact on UDRP filings. I explain some theories in the video.
One more reason that could be contributing to the rise in domain name disputes is a little bit of additional interest in some of the new top-level domains. In the second quarter of 2021, the .shop TLD appeared in the most number of disputes behind .com across all of the UDRP dispute providers, and in the third quarter, .xyz took that role. While .com remains far and away the most common top-level domain in UDRP cases, these new TLDs are certainly contributing the overall total in a way that has not previously been the case.
Fortunately, as I always say, the UDRP is still working incredibly well for trademark owners, though I do know from personal experience with cases on behalf of some of my clients that the dispute providers are struggling a bit to handle such a tremendous caseload, sometimes resulting in delays that we haven’t seen before. But still, compared with the time – and, of course, the expense – of traditional litigation, the UDRP remains an incredibly efficient choice for trademark owners to deal with cybersquatters, as obviously is happening these days in record numbers.
