GigaLaw, a law firm specializing in brand protection in the digital space, has released its Domain Name Dispute Digest summarizing the results of the fourth quarter of 2025 and the year as a whole. The statistics include decisions rendered last year by all five forums handling domain name disputes under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP): the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Forum (formerly the US National Arbitration Forum), the Czech Arbitration Court, the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center, and the Arab Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center.
The number of rulings rendered by arbitration bodies decreased slightly last year, from 8,484 in 2024 to 8,476 in 2025 (0.9 percent decline). The number of domain names involved in disputes fell more significantly, by nearly 19 percent, from 16,909 to 13,739. Domain Name Wire, reporting on this, notes that GigaLaw’s statistics reflect decisions rendered rather than complaints filed. As a result, they do not include complaints submitted in 2025 but resolved in 2026, nor do they account for cases in which parties reached a settlement without an arbitral ruling.
This partly explains the discrepancy between GigaLaw’s data and that of the World Intellectual Property Organization, which previously reported that it heard a record 6,282 domain name disputes in 2025. It should also be noted that WIPO arbitration handles disputes in many country-code domain zones, where proceedings are governed not by the UDRP but by national, albeit largely similar, policies. According to GigaLaw, the number of WIPO arbitration awards issued under the UDRP in 2025 not only failed to increase but actually declined by 3.7 percent. Meanwhile, another major arbitration body, the Forum, reported a 5.1 percent increase in awards.
It is also noteworthy that in the fourth quarter of last year, 1.24 percent of all complaints considered by arbitration bodies were ultimately classified as attempts at reverse domain name hijacking.
