Key points
- The response deadline is short: generally 20 days from formal commencement of the case.
- If you don't respond, the panel decides on the complainant's evidence alone, and many unanswered complaints result in transfer.
- The complainant must prove all three elements. Defeating any one is enough to keep your domain.
- Prior use, being commonly known by the name, fair use, and a generic or descriptive name are common defenses.
First steps after you receive a complaint
- Note the deadline. The provider's notice states when the case formally began. Your response is generally due 20 days later. Extensions are limited.
- Don't transfer, sell, or change the domain. The registrar will have locked it, and changes to the site during the case can look like an admission.
- Preserve evidence. Collect records showing when and why you registered the domain and how you have used it: invoices, business plans, emails, archived pages, and screenshots.
- Get advice quickly. A strong response takes time to assemble. Contacting an attorney early leaves room to evaluate settlement as well as defense.
How UDRP defenses work
The complainant carries the burden on all three elements. A response should test each one and, wherever possible, show facts in your favor with evidence.
Challenging confusing similarity
This element is usually the easiest for a complainant to meet. Still, it can be contested where the complainant's claimed rights are weak, unregistered and unsupported by evidence, or where the domain doesn't actually reflect the mark.
Showing rights or legitimate interests
The UDRP itself lists ways a domain holder can show legitimate interests, including:
- Bona fide use: before you had notice of the dispute, you used the domain, or made demonstrable preparations to use it, for a genuine offering of goods or services.
- Commonly known: you, your business, or your organization have been commonly known by the domain name.
- Fair use: you make legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain, without intent to mislead consumers for gain or tarnish the mark. Genuine criticism or commentary sites can fall here, depending on the facts.
Domains made of common dictionary words or descriptive phrases, used for their ordinary meaning, often support a legitimate interest even if a trademark owner uses the same word.
Rebutting bad faith
The complainant must show the domain was both registered and used in bad faith. Strong rebuttals include:
- You registered the domain before the complainant had trademark rights
- You had no knowledge of the complainant or its mark when you registered
- The mark is a common term used by many businesses
- You never offered to sell the domain to the complainant or targeted its business
Reverse Domain Name Hijacking
If a complaint was brought in bad faith, for example by a trademark owner who knew it couldn't meet the elements and filed to pressure a legitimate holder, the respondent can ask the panel for a finding of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking. The finding carries no money award, but it is published in the decision and can matter in any later dispute.
What if you lose?
A UDRP decision does not bar court proceedings. If transfer is ordered, the registrar generally waits 10 business days. If, within that time, the domain holder shows it has filed a lawsuit in the jurisdiction the complainant agreed to in its complaint, the transfer is put on hold pending the court case. That decision should be made with counsel, before the window closes.
Should you respond or settle?
Not every case is worth contesting, and not every complaint should be conceded. If you have little invested in the domain and weak facts, a negotiated transfer may save time and cost. If the domain is central to your business and you registered it legitimately, a well-supported response gives you a real chance of keeping it.
How we help
Solace Law represents domain holders in UDRP proceedings: evaluating the complaint, assembling evidence, drafting the response, and advising on settlement and next steps after a decision. Learn more about our UDRP domain dispute services.
This article is general information about U.S. intellectual property law and the UDRP, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Outcomes depend on specific facts and on the panel or court deciding the matter. Solace Law does not guarantee any particular result and does not advise on foreign law.