Your trademark is one of your most valuable business assets. In the digital landscape, it is constantly threatened by bad-faith domain registrations: cybersquatters who register your brand name to extract payments, redirect traffic, or damage your reputation. With over 1,500 domain extensions now complementing .com (including country-code TLDs, new generic TLDs, and brand TLDs), opportunities for exploitation are abundant and growing.
We specialise in domain name dispute resolution and protect your brand through comprehensive legal strategies. Our approach covers the full cycle: analysing your goods and services portfolio, identifying applicable trademark rights, developing domain name strategies aligned with your registered marks, and implementing monitoring programmes to enforce those rights before damage accumulates.
The Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) is the primary mechanism for resolving domain name disputes outside the courts. Administered by WIPO and other approved dispute resolution providers, the UDRP provides a faster and significantly less expensive alternative to court litigation. A successful UDRP complaint results in transfer of the domain to the complainant or cancellation of the registration.
To succeed in a UDRP proceeding, the complainant must establish three elements: that the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights; that the registrant has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name; and that the domain was registered and is being used in bad faith. We prepare UDRP complaints that present these elements clearly and with supporting evidence, achieving a high success rate in proceedings before WIPO panels.
The Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) is a complementary mechanism available for new gTLDs. It provides faster relief (suspension rather than transfer) at lower cost, making it suitable for clear-cut cases of cybersquatting where the facts are straightforward and the respondent's bad faith is evident.
Dispute resolution is reactive by definition. A proactive domain name strategy reduces the need for disputes by securing the most important domain registrations before they can be exploited. We develop defensive registration programmes that prioritise the TLD extensions most likely to be targeted (based on your industry, geographic presence, and brand recognition), register key variations and common misspellings, and monitor new TLD launches for opportunities and threats.
For brand TLD operators or applicants in the ICANN 2026 round, the domain name strategy takes on an additional dimension: the brand TLD itself provides a controlled namespace that eliminates third-party registration risk entirely within that namespace.
Where UDRP or URS proceedings are insufficient (because the dispute involves complex factual issues, the respondent is a legitimate competitor rather than a squatter, or the relief sought goes beyond domain transfer) court proceedings remain available. We litigate domain name disputes before Belgian and EU courts, including applications for interim measures where the urgency of the situation requires immediate relief.
UDRP proceedings are generally concluded within 45 to 60 days of filing the complaint. The process is faster and significantly less expensive than court litigation, and does not require the respondent to be in the same jurisdiction as the complainant.
The UDRP applies to most gTLDs and many ccTLDs and can result in domain transfer or cancellation. The URS (Uniform Rapid Suspension) is a faster, lower-cost mechanism for new gTLDs that provides temporary suspension rather than transfer. The URS is appropriate for clear-cut cases; the UDRP is the right tool for more complex disputes or where permanent transfer is the desired outcome.
Evidence of trademark rights (registration certificates, evidence of use and reputation), evidence that the respondent has no legitimate interest in the domain (absence of any business connection or authorisation), and evidence of bad faith registration and use (registration after the trademark became known, use for phishing or traffic diversion, offers to sell the domain, or passive holding with no legitimate purpose). We assemble comprehensive evidence packages as part of our complaint preparation.
Yes. In some cases, a cease and desist letter or direct contact with the registrant results in voluntary transfer or cancellation without the need for formal proceedings. We assess each case individually and recommend the most cost-effective approach. Where informal resolution is unlikely to succeed (professional squatters, anonymous registrants, hostile respondents), we proceed directly to UDRP or court proceedings.
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