National Arbitration Forum Domain Name Dispute Filings Hold Steady in 2009

Greener UDRP Saves Parties Time and Money

MINNEAPOLIS, April 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Arbitration Forum, an international provider of dispute resolution services, today announced a total of 1,759 cases were filed in its domain name dispute resolution program in 2009, compared to 1,770 cases in 2008. The FORUM is approved by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to provide domain name dispute resolution services under policies like the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).

The following data pertains to the National Arbitration Forum domain name dispute resolution program in 2009 (January 1 to December 31, 2009): 

• Panelists heard and decided 1,333 of the 1,759 cases filed; parties worked together to settle many of the remaining cases.
• UDRP cases, on average, were concluded 41 days from commencement.
• A majority of cases filed (96.5%) involved domain names including .com and .org under the UDRP.
• Nearly 50 cases were handled involving a .us top-level domain under the United States Dispute Resolution Policy (usDRP).
• Six cases were administered under the Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy (TDRP) Appeals process, the Eligibility Requirements Dispute Resolution Policy (ERDRP) and United States Nexus Dispute Policy (usNDP).

Notable 2009 decisions involved trademarks such as Ed Hardy, Hewlett-Packard, Kate Hudson and Victoria's Secret. The FORUM also issued the largest single decision on record, involving the transfer of 1,017 domain names to ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. on November 11, 2009. National Arbitration Forum domain name dispute proceedings and decisions are available online in a searchable case database.

Cases filed with the National Arbitration Forum are heard and decided by Dispute Resolution Panelists who are primarily lawyers and judges with significant UDRP experience or who specialize in domain name, trademark, copyright and/or e-commerce law. Panelists are located around the world and can conduct proceedings in several languages including Dutch, English, French, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Korean.

In 2009, updates to the UDRP Rules included the elimination of paper filings. The FORUM began allowing parties to "opt in" to this electronic process at the end of December. The paperless process became mandatory in early 2010.

"Parties quickly embraced the new electronic process," said Kristine Dorrain, National Arbitration Forum Internet Legal Counsel. "We followed up by rolling out a new online filing platform in early 2010 and have seen a significant number of cases filed quickly and easily online without the hassle and expense of paper."

To file a claim see http://domains.adrforum.com or contact domaindispute[at]adrforum.com. To inquire about generic top-level domain (gTLD) start-up or sunrise services and offerings, contact Internet Legal Counsel Kristine Dorrain.

About the National Arbitration Forum (FORUM)

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, the National Arbitration Forum is an approved provider of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Since 1999, over 14,000 domain name disputes worldwide have been filed through the National Arbitration Forum's state-of-the-art case management system, now optimized by Forthright. For more information, visit http://domains.adrforum.com.

Media Contact:

Kristine Dorrain

952-516-6456

[email protected]

SOURCE National Arbitration Forum