Marques, a European association for trademark owners, has sent a letter to ICANN, according to Domain Incite. The letter contains some interesting numbers. The Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) came into effect about 20 years ago, and over this time trademark owners have had to spend at least $360 million to maintain their rights to domain names. This dollar figure is the total number of UDRP cases – 72,038 – multiplied by the cost each company had to pay per case. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which handles over half of all UDRP cases, charges $1,500 per case. The trademark owners have to pay fees to lawyers and experts who prepare the cases and represent them. One case costs a minimum of $5,000. Marques representatives say the estimate is quite conservative as the real expenses are often much higher.
At the same time, the registrants of the domain names in such cases only have to pay for a defense if they believe it is necessary to join a UDRP case. Losing a domain name is the worst-case scenario for them if the complainant proves they had no right to register it. Trademark owners do not believe this is fair. One of their proposals is for registrants to pay $500 when they are hit by a UDRP complaint. This amount would be held during the investigation and refunded in full if the registrant wins. However, Marques is not seeking an immediate resolution to this issue. In its letter, it suggests ICANN create an independent expert group to develop and improve UDRP’s policy.
