CyberSquatting

Question: Perhaps you just found out that a competitor has registered the name of your dotCom as a dotNet; or perhaps  it has registered a deceptively similar name. What do you do? Well, you could file suit under the federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, but like all litigation, that could take a very, very long time and be very, very expensive. There is an alternative.

In January, 2000 the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") established its Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Arbitration Process"), a formalized form of arbitration. The good news: it’s faster, cheaper and (probably) better than litigation and tends to favor complainants. The bad news: it still may not keep you out of court and does not cover all Top Level Domains ("TLD").

A Complainant begins the Arbitration Process by filing a complaint with one of four authorized arbitration providers (the "Providers"): CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution; eResolution; National Arbitration Forum; and the World Intellectual Property Organization. ICANN has indicated that "additional providers may be approved soon." The Providers charge a sliding fee that may depend on the number of domain names contemplated by a complaint and the number of arbitrators.

The Arbitration Process is much shorter than litigation. The Providers have five days in which to determine if the complaint is sufficient. The Respondent has 20 days to respond to the complaint. The Arbitrator has 14 days to render a decision. A Complainant may have a decision in as little as 39 days. Realistically, it will take longer but still be far shorter than litigation.

Aside from the time savings, the Arbitration Process has the added benefit of being a remote process that takes place through regular and electronic mail. Because there are no physical appearances and virtually no pre-trial discovery the process is far cheaper than litigation.

Moreover, the Arbitration Process tends to favor the Complainants, usually traditional holders of a given name. In the case of WIPO, 75% of its rulings are in favor of the complainant.

There are some drawbacks. The Arbitration Process cannot award any monetary relief. If a monetary award is necessary then you will be better off under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. Also, the Arbitration Process governs only global TLDs, i.e., .com, .net, .org. and a handful of country code TLDs. The vast majority of country code TLDs are outside the Arbitration Process.

Still, even with all its limitations in the right case it is a better system for dispute resolution than litigation.