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CategoryTrademark
Published28 August 2026
Authors
Uğurcan TekinPartner
Şevval Ezgi DemirAttorney at Law

The UDRP: A Global Arbitral Route against Domain Name Piracy

Domain names are allocated on a first come, first served basis. That principle is indispensable to the system's operation, but it also opens a door to bad actors: registering domain names carrying someone else's trademark and trying to sell them back to the owner is the practice known as cybersquatting, and it follows the same pattern everywhere in the world. The global answer to the problem is the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy adopted by ICANN, known as the UDRP.

The UDRP provides an out-of-court arbitral procedure for domain names under generic top-level extensions such as com, net and org. Complaints are filed with accredited dispute resolution providers, the busiest of which is the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. The procedure is conducted entirely in writing, and most cases are decided within roughly two months.

The UDRP resolves domain name disputes through a written arbitral procedure, without a courtroom.

Three Cumulative Conditions

Success under the UDRP depends on proving three conditions together. First, the domain name must be identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights. Second, the registrant must have no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. Third, the domain name must have been registered and be used in bad faith. The three conditions are cumulative; failure to prove even one leads to the complaint being denied.

The Policy sets out illustrative circumstances that evidence bad faith: acquiring the domain name primarily to sell it to the trademark owner or a competitor for more than out-of-pocket costs, registering it to prevent the owner from reflecting its mark in a domain name, acting to disrupt a competitor's business, and attracting internet users to a site for commercial gain by creating confusion with the mark.

“What is on trial in a UDRP case is not the domain name, but the registrant's intent.”

How the Procedure Runs, and What It Can Deliver

After the complaint is filed, the registrant is given a period to respond, and the case is then referred to a panel of one or three panellists. The remedies are limited: denial of the complaint, cancellation of the domain name, or its transfer to the complainant. No damages are awarded. Where transfer or cancellation is ordered, the registrar waits ten business days before implementing the decision; if within that period the registrant documents that it has commenced proceedings before a competent court, implementation is suspended pending the outcome. In practice, the great majority of cases end conclusively with the panel decision, without ever reaching that stage.

The Position under .tr

Domain names under Türkiye's country code extension .tr fall outside the UDRP. Disputes under that extension are resolved by dispute resolution service providers authorised within the TRABİS system, on a similar logic but under separate procedural rules. Businesses whose portfolios span both the global extensions and .tr need an integrated domain strategy that respects the differences between the two regimes. In both, the common denominator is unchanged: a registered, documentable trademark right is the indispensable foundation of the process.

Key Principles

  • The UDRP offers an out-of-court arbitral procedure for disputes under generic top-level extensions.
  • Success requires cumulative proof of similarity, absence of rights or legitimate interests, and bad faith.
  • The procedure is written and most cases conclude within roughly two months.
  • Panels may only deny, cancel or transfer; no damages are awarded.
  • The registrar waits ten business days before implementing a transfer; timely court proceedings suspend implementation.
  • The .tr extension falls outside the UDRP and is subject to the separate mechanism under TRABİS.

Devin Patent provides attorney services for domain watch and for aligning domain strategies with the trademark portfolio. The conduct of UDRP complaints and .tr disputes is undertaken by our partner firm, Devin Law & IP.

Sources

  • ICANN, Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (icann.org)
  • WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, domain name dispute resolution (wipo.int/amc)
  • Industrial Property Code No. 6769, Article 7 (mevzuat.gov.tr)
Related practice areaIndustrial Property Law→

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