The year 2024 began just like the past 10 years have ended: with a record-setting number of domain name disputes under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
The newest issue (Q1 2024) of GigaLaw’s Domain Dispute Digest provides detailed data about the ongoing increase in UDRP cases, including:
A 27.52 percent spike in the number of disputed domain names
A success rate for trademark owners (transfers and cancellations) of 95.04 percent
A list of the largest cases (including two with more than 100 domain names)
The most common gTLDs in UDRP cases (after .com: .shop, .net, .org, .top, and .online)
I’ve discussed a number of reasons behind the growing problem of cybersquatting for a long time, including the overall effectiveness of the UDRP itself. But I’ve started to notice a few additional issues that are contributing to the trend, which I discuss in the Digest:
More First-Time Filers. Many well-known trademark owners continue to file multiple UDRP complaints every quarter, but I also always see unfamiliar names among the list of complainants — and, I’m frequently contacted by companies of all sizes that have never filed a UDRP complaint before. Although some of them have never had a need to file a domain name dispute until a current event occurred or gained their attention, most of them are just now becoming aware of either the problem of cybersquatting or the practical solution of the UDRP. Some of these trademark owners may only ever file a single complaint and will never appear on this Digest’s list of frequent filers (p. 8), but some of them start to tackle cybersquatters regularly once they realize the scope of the issue and the ease with which the UDRP allows them to address it.
More Large Complaints. While most UDRP decisions (about 95 percent) involve only a single domain name, some trademark owners sometimes find it possible to include multiple domain names (as many as 93 in the past quarter) in a single complaint – something referred to as a type of “consolidation” under the UDRP. As I’ve said before, consolidated complaints have become less common in recent years, given the popularity of privacy and proxy services as well as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which makes it more difficult for trademark owners to identify multiple domain names held by a single registrant. But, savvy trademark owners that find ways to tie domain names together find consolidation to be an incredibly effective and efficient strategy.
More ccTLD Disputes. Although gTLDs continue to account for the overwhelming majority of all UDRP cases, the first quarter of 2024 saw an increase in the number of disputes using .co (Colombia) and .ai (Anguilla) top-level domains. Indeed, there were twice as many .ai decisions in the quarter as compared with the same quarter last year, indicating that both trademark owners and cybersquatters continue to find this ccTLD attractive because of its coincidental connection to the hot topic of artificial intelligence.
For all of the detailed data, download a copy of the Digest.
And, if you want to talk with me directly about any of these issues, I hope you’ll join me at the INTA annual meeting in Atlanta, where I’m hosting two table topics on the UDRP.
