The Freename Forum

Domain name lawyer Doug Isenberg presents his statistical report on UDRP decisions for the third quarter of 2024. The increase in the number of UDRP proceedings is declining slightly for the first time in ten years.

‘Gigalaw's Domain Dispute Digest Third Quarter 2024’ is a 15-page report on the development of UDRP proceedings over the past three months. Doug Isenberg analysed the resolved UDRP proceedings of all five ICANN-accredited dispute resolution bodies in July, August and September 2024. The key finding of his report is that domain name disputes are continuing to subside - but only slightly and probably not for long. Isenberg's comparison is based on the same quarter of the previous year. He counts a total of 1,982 UDRP decisions (compared to 2,128 in Q3 2023 and 2,030 in Q3 2022), in which 3,695 domains were disputed (compared to 4,704 in Q3 2023 and 3,969 in Q3 2022). This represents a decrease of 6.86 per cent in decisions and 27.31 per cent in domains compared to Q3 2023. Since a slump in 2013, the number of proceedings has thus risen continuously and picked up speed, which is now slowing down somewhat. A total of 3,565 domains were transferred in 96.48 per cent of cases; 2.60 per cent (96 domains) of complaints were rejected and 0.92 per cent (34 domains) were cancelled. Of the five accredited dispute resolution bodies, WIPO is in first place with 1,175 decisions (1,178 in Q3 2023), ahead of Forum with 555 decisions (677 in Q3 2023). It is followed by the Czech CAC with 201 decisions (217 in Q3 2023), the Arab Centre for Domain Name Dispute Resolution (ADNDRC) with 35 cases (48 in Q3 2023) and, bringing up the rear, the Canadian CIIDRC with 16 decisions (8 in Q3 2023). It can also be seen that WIPO decides on transfer in 96.37 per cent of cases; the rate is significantly higher at Forum (97.43 per cent). At the CAC, the figure is 96.48 per cent, ADNDRC comes in at 90.65 per cent (and the respondents thus fare best there), while at the CIIDRC the transfer rate is 95.65 per cent.

In his digest, Isenberg provides further information on the distribution of the proceedings among the different domain endings, with .com naturally leading among the gTLDs with 2,558 domains, followed by .shop with 264 domains, which has overtaken .net (144 domains). Among the ccTLDs, the Colombian .co with 33 domains is ahead of .ai (Anguilla) with 24 domains and .cc (Cocos Islands) with 15 domains. The most active complainants are listed by cases and domains: French retail and wholesale group Carrefour is ahead with 40 cases, while Swedish brick manufacturer Lego is ahead with a total of 83 domains. Isenberg goes on to look at the figures for URS proceedings, the number of which has increased compared to Q3 2023: 35 decisions on 58 domains in Q3 2023 developed into 47 decisions on 92 domains in Q3 2024. The quarterly report ends with an extensive glossary that briefly explains the key terms in connection with the UDRP procedure.

Isenberg assumes that the decline in decisions in Q3 2024 is mainly due to lower budgets for the prosecution of trademark infringements by trademark owners due to the 2024 election year. He refers to feedback from a representative of a UDRP service provider. In any case, the assumption that there is less cybersquatting is wrong. Isenberg estimates that 2024 will ultimately end with roughly the same figures for procedures and domains as 2023, meaning that there will be no decline. He also assumes that, as his statistics only take into account decided cases, more cases will end with an amicable settlement - the rate is now around 15 per cent. The 15-page ‘Gigalaw Domain Dispute Digest Q3/2024’ provides a quick, clear and comprehensible overview of the development of UDRP and URS proceedings in the third quarter of this year compared to the third quarter of the previous year. We recommend reading it.

You can download the ‘Gigalaw Domain Dispute Digest Q3/2024’ here:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... ute-digest