Doug Isenberg was quoted in an article in Managing IP on October 19, 2022, “Domain experts: anonymous UDRP case is unprecedented.”
The article discusses a recent decision under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) in which the panel redacted both the name of the complainant as well as the domain name itself.
As the article says:
Doug Isenberg, founder of domain name specialist law firm GigaLaw in Atlanta, says that as far as he knows, this is the only UDRP decision ever published that has not identified the domain name. “It is certainly highly unusual and unprecedented.”
In addition:
Isenberg points to paragraph 4(j) of the UDRP policy, which states: “All decisions under this policy will be published in full over the internet, except when an administrative panel determines in an exceptional case to redact portions of its decision.”
He says: “I never would have imagined that an actual domain name in dispute would have been redacted from a UDRP decision. But as I often tell my clients, after handling cybersquatting cases for more than 25 years, nothing surprises me anymore.
“In this case, the panel is a very experienced domain name arbitrator. I trust that his decision to redact the actual domain name was not taken lightly, and was justified.”
And:
Isenberg says that in most cases, complainants want the disputed domain names to be published. Doing so deters other potential cybersquatters from targeting the same trademarks and helps inform the public that a trademark owner is not afraid to take action.
He adds: “I cannot fully decipher by reading the decision what privacy and safety concerns the complainant would have suffered had the domain name been published in the decision. It is difficult to know what actually occurred.
“On the one hand, that’s a shame, because the UDRP is a very transparent process, with most panellists going to great lengths to ensure decisions are well-reasoned and clear, which reinforces faith in the UDRP system itself.
“On the other hand, the facts in this case are clearly incredibly unusual.”
