Doug Isenberg Attends Two Meetings of Domain Name Panelists

View fullsize

Doug Isenberg attended the annual meeting of WIPO domain name panelists in Geneva on October 14, 2022; and a virtual meeting of panelists hosted by the Forum on October 6, 2022.

Nearly 120 domain name panelists from 26 countries attended the WIPO meeting, the first to be held since 2019, due to the an interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meetings provide an opportunity for education and networking among panelists who decide cases under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). As Doug has reported in GigaLaw’s Domain Dispute Digest, UDRP filings by trademark owners against cybersquatters are on track for a ninth-consecutive year of record increases.

Doug Isenberg Quoted by Reuters in Article on Cybersquatters Targeting Law Firms

Attorney Doug Isenberg of The GigaLaw Firm was repeatedly quoted in an article by Reuters, “Debevoise fries phishers in cyberpiracy case. Take heed, law firms.”

The article discusses a lawsuit filed by the law firm Debevoise, which won the transfer of domain names used by a cybersquatter to impersonate the law firm.

The article says:

The Debevoise case is unusual, said domain name expert Doug Isenberg of The GigaLaw Firm, because the firm chose to go to court rather than filing a Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy complaint. Typically, Isenberg said, businesses that have been targeted by cybersquatters use the UDRP process, which resembles arbitration, to gain control of rogue domain names. UDRP cases, which are handled by such groups as the World Intellectual Property Organization, are typically resolved quickly and efficiently, often in just 60 days, Isenberg said.

Unfortunately, what’s not unusual about the Debevoise fake name brouhaha, Isenberg said, is that the cyber pirates created fake law firm domain names. Isenberg told me he does not have hard data on UDRP complaints filed by law firms, but his anecdotal sense from reviewing case records is that there has been a “significant increase” in cases brought by law firms.

Sophisticated cybersquatters, Isenberg said, often use fake law firm domain names to impersonate law firm personnel in email phishing attempts, like the one perpetrated by a Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner imposter in a UDRP case Isenberg discussed in a blog post last January. The ensuing scam, Isenberg said, can be as simple as sending fake invoices, via fake email addresses, to law firm vendors or clients.

Doug Isenberg Recognized in 'Best Lawyers in America' for Technology Law

Doug Isenberg, founder of The GigaLaw Firm, has been recognized in the 29th edition of The Best Lawyers in America for what the publication calls “high caliber work in Technology Law.”

“For more than 40 years, Best Lawyers has been regarded — by both the profession and the public — as the most credible measure of legal integrity and distinction in the United States,” the publication says. “As such, recognition by Best Lawyers symbolizes excellence in practice.”

Inclusion in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers is based on a rigorous peer-review survey comprising more than 12.2 million confidential evaluations by top attorneys. The 29th edition of The Best Lawyers in America recognizes only the top 5.3% of elite lawyers in the nation across 150 practice areas.

Doug Isenberg is a recognized leader on Internet law; a domain name panelist; and a frequent author and speaker on Internet legal issues. He publishes regular videos about domain name disputes (including a 14-episode masterclass) and a quarterly digest that tracks data and trends under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).

Doug Isenberg Quoted in 'Managing IP' About New Top-Level Domain Names

Doug Isenberg of The GigaLaw Firm was quoted extensively in “Managing IP” in an article titled, “10 years of new gTLDs: why brands have never got the memo.”

The article focuses on what has transpired in the 10 years since ICANN revealed the list of applications in its historic expansion of the new generic top-level domain names (new gTLDs).

The article discusses how many great expectations for the new gTLDs never materialized and says:

Doug Isenberg, founder of domain name specialist law firm GigaLaw in Atlanta, agrees. He says clients have lost interest in ‘dot brands’ over the years with many either directly or indirectly abandoning their plans.

“Even after all of these years there’s just not a strong incentive to use them given a lack of consumer education. ‘Dot com’ is what continues to attract the most interest from everyone: trademark owners, cybersquatters, and consumers alike,” he tells Managing IP.

He notes that the number of new gTLDs involved in domain name disputes is relatively small.

According to GigaLaw’s Domain Dispute Digest, a quarterly report that tracks data and trends from the major providers of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), the majority of disputes still involve ‘dot com’.

In the first quarter of 2022, 2,531 ‘dot com’ domain names were subject to UDRP decisions, out of a total of 3,259 (70%).

“Despite the arrival of the new gTLDs, most trademark owners are primarily concerned about cybersquatting in the ‘dot com’ TLD, because it remains king,” he says.

However, there are some new gTLDs that some trademark owners have found worthwhile including restricted TLDs like ‘dot bank’ and ‘dot law’, Isenberg believes.

“I switched from gigalaw.com to giga.law because it allowed me to maintain my brand while shortening the overall length of my domain name and to adopt a new gTLD that is restricted, which means cybersquatting does not happen,” he says.

To read the full article in “Managing IP,” click here.

Doug Isenberg Speaks at Intellectual Property Law CLE Program in Vail, Colorado

Doug Isenberg spoke on the topic of “Developments in Domain Name Law” at the annual “IP & Ski” continuing legal education (CLE) conference for intellectual property attorneys in Vail, Colorado, on January 7, 2022.

Doug’s presentation included an up-to-date report on domain name statistics — including a discussion about the record-setting year for complaints by trademark owners under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) — as well as a review of important and interesting UDRP decisions from 2021.

Other speakers at the conference included the U.S. commissioner for trademarks, judges, law professors, attorneys in private practice, and in-house counsel from many well-known companies including Google, Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, Uber, NBC Universal, Mastercard, and more.