The term \u2018UDRP\u2019 has been floating around quite a bit recently since there\u2019s been a surge of UDRP complaints. In one of our earlier blog posts on the subject, we spoke about companies such as\u00a0Canyon filing for UDRP. Off late, everyone from Hollywood celebrities to football stars, wants a share. We\u2019re here to tell you a little more about what the policy is & the celebrities\u00a0filing them. \u00a0The Uniform Domain Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (or the UDRP as it is called) is a set of guidelines used by ICANN that protects trademark companies\/ brands from cybersquatting by third parties.<\/p>\n
There are only certain conditions\u00a0under which a UDRP can be filed:<\/p>\n
So what qualifies \u201cbad faith\u201d?<\/p>\n
Hollywood youth icons, Kylie & Kendall Jenner recently got control of their domains www.kyliejenner.com<\/a> & www.kendalljenner.com<\/a> through UDRPs filed. The domain owner of both was an individual from India who registered the domains 4 days after the show which stars the sisters (Keeping Up With the Kardashians) was aired. The UDRP panel found the domain names to be registered in bad faith.<\/p>\n Even before the Jenner sisters were filing UDRP complaints, soccer star & international celebrity, Lionel Messi was on it, filing for www.lionelmessi.com<\/a> & www.Messi.com<\/a> along with DJ & pop artist, Calvin Harris filing for www.calvinharris.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lady Gaga was left with a poker face after losing a bid to gain control of www.ladygaga.org<\/a>. The rejection was on the basis that the domain name pointed to a non-profit fan page, not meeting the conditions of the policy. The Respondent was allowed to keep the domain name on those grounds. Guess she Couldn’t Give Anything But Love<\/em>!<\/p>\n In the past, the \u2018Pat Benatar\u2019 in 2004 taught us a few things about \u201cloopholes\u201d in this policy when a panel refused to transfer www.patbenatar.org<\/a> to Mr. Pat Benatar on similar grounds such as \u2018fan site\u2019. Surprisingly, the owner of the domain name also owns 700 other \u201ccelebrity\u201d sites including www.amywinehouse.org, www.benstiller.org, www.zac-efron.net, www.sarahjessicaparker.org and www.terri-hatcher.net<\/a> on the basis similar basis.<\/p>\n As a domain reseller<\/a>, ensure that you and your clients do a thorough background check on the guidelines of the policy before filing.\u00a0In all probability, an owner of a \u201csham site\u201d like this could very well know the UDRP policy inside out & find loopholes, making it difficult to call out the bluff on such a site. So, be alert to cybersquatting for your benefit & for you celebrities, brands & trademarks, it would be wise to snap up your domain name in the Sunrise phase \u2013 the one exclusively for privileged ones like yourself so things in The Fame Kingdom<\/em>\u00a0are Under Control<\/em> \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n Comment & tell us if you think domain squatting can be avoided if trademarks act\u00a0more vigilantly during the Sunrise period.<\/p>\n Reseller Hosting<\/a> | Windows Reseller Hosting<\/a> | Cloud Hosting<\/a> | VPS Hosting<\/a> | Managed VPS Hosting<\/a> | Dedicated Server Hosting<\/a> | Windows Dedicated Server<\/a> | Managed Dedicated Server<\/a> | Linux Shared Hosting<\/a> | Windows Shared Hosting<\/a><\/p>\nReseller Club Hosting Services<\/h2>\n