If You Receive a UDRP Threat, Consult with a Lawyer

It must be concerning to receive a notice of a pending UDRP. Not only might a valuable domain name be on the line, but an investor’s reputation may also be at risk. If a UDRP is filed against one of my domain names – or even if a threat was made – I would consult with a domain name attorney.

Someone posted about receiving a UDRP notice, and I shared this recommendation. It is a good idea to get educated about trademarks and UDRP filings, but I would always work with an attorney on a UDRP defense or even a response to a threat. It’s not worth complicating my situation by responding to a UDRP or a threat on my own without getting advice from an expert.

Past cases may look similar, but each domain name and situation has different sets of facts that will contribute to the success or failure of a defense. From the start, perhaps my case is weaker than I think and the best option is to try and negotiate a settlement. Hiring an attorney to consult on this could save me time and money. It can also remove some of the personal sentiment that could negatively impact a response.

I read enough UDRP decisions to understand what types of information would make a good defense. However, the published decisions do not include the filings from either side. There is likely a good deal of nuance in a defense, and it is important to present the right information for a panelist to review.

There are quite a few excellent attorneys who have a strong track record for defending domain names. If I am faced with a UDRP filing or a legal threat against one of my domain names, my first call would be to a competent domain industry attorney. I am not sure how much a UDRP defense costs, but it is one cost of doing business as a domain investor.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

4 COMMENTS

  1. It’s worth noting it may be cost prohibitive for some investors to hire a domain attorney. Or they may feel it’s not work their time/money to respond since they may not have much invested in the domain in the first place. In those situations check out fiverr and search udrp. You can get help at a really affordable rate.

  2. What is cheap, usually turns out to be very expensive.
    There’s domain name free legal advice online. Ask big “G”.

    • Every case is different. A defense that worked for someone who owned a domain name for 20 years would differ from someone who owned a name for 2 years. Each situation has a different set of facts.

  3. Q: as we all know the USA attorneys are very expensive and they charge like SH**it.
    So if you hire an attorney from a 4th world country to represent you…cheaper, it is still more effective…afterall UDRP has no bounderies.

    Do you reallly need an attorney for this?

    As usual, the rich taking advantage of the poor!

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