If you’ve been through the first, second, and third elements of a UDRP complaint, and you have argued laches as a defense, but have now lost your domain name to a complainant, here is what you can do.
A UDRP panel is not always the final decision. You may choose to take your case before a court and overturn the panel’s decision.
After the panel decides in its arbitration-like proceeding that your domain name should be transferred to the complainant or cancelled, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) will wait ten business days before implementing the decision. In this time, you can file a lawsuit against the complainant and send any official documentation (a copy of the complaint will do) notifying ICANN of the action. However, ICANN must receive documentation of the lawsuit within the ten-day period. If ICANN does not receive notification of a lawsuit in the ten-day period, ICANN will implement the decision, and you will be required to hand over your domain name.
Once ICANN is notified, it will wait to take action until it receives:
- Evidence satisfactory that the parties resolved the dispute;
- evidence satisfactory to it that the lawsuit has been dismissed or withdrawn; or
- a copy of an order from such court dismissing the lawsuit or ordering that the domain name owner does not have the right to continue to use the domain name
But, isn’t ten days too short to file an action?
Yes. Waiting until you lose a UDRP action to find an attorney can be costly at best. Many times it will be impossible to find an attorney to file the action within the requisite time.
What’s more, a respondent can sue the complainant for legal costs or damages, while the complainant can take the respondent to court and sue for trademark infringement. Often times the UDRP process is just the beginning.
If you have lost a UDRP action or would like more information about protecting your domain name or trademark, contact Revision Legal’s Internet attorneys through the form on this page or call 855-473-8474.