Nominet’s Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) saved an estimated £7.74 million in legal costs in 2015, according to the registry's annual domain disputes report.
The report, published on 5 July, cited complainants from 40 countries and 37 cases fewer cases but two more complaints than 2014.
Nominet arrived at the estimated £7.74 million figure assuming court and legal fee savings of £15,000 per complaint that progresses to a formal dispute resolution.
In contrast, it costs nothing to lodge a dispute with the DRS. A dispute that includes mediation, a first decision and an appeal would cost £4,500.
The DRS was created in 2001 to offer an alternative method of resolving disputes relating to Nominet’s .UK domain names.
“To successfully make a complaint using our Dispute Resolution Service you must be able to prove the domain name, in the hands of the current registrant, is an abusive registration,” commented Nick Wenban-Smith, senior legal counsel at Nominet.
Smith believes that it is important that businesses and individuals are able to protect themselves against domain name abuses. They showed an increasing need to do so in 2015, with the number of settlements between parties falling to 93 cases from 130 in 2014.
“Whether you’re a family business, a great British institution or a global franchise phenomenon, Nominets DRS can help to protect your rights in the .uk namespace.”
Among the 728 complaints filed in 2015, Nominet published details of several high profile cases, including complaints from Bank of Scotland, Lucasfilm and the BBC.
Bank of Scotland lodged two complaints over typosquatting, with bankofscoltland.co.uk and hallifaxbnk.co.uk said to be profiting from confusion. Both domain names were awarded to Bank of Scotland in summary decisions through DRS.
Lucasfilm filed a complaint over starwars.co.uk and other domains, through which the respondent sold fancy dress costumes, including Star Wars-branded costumes.
An appeal panel considered this a clear use of the “pulling power” of the Star Wars trademark and transferred seven domain names to Lucasfilm.
The BBC, which is responsible for TV licensing fee collection, brought a complaint against telivisionlicensing.co.uk, arguing that there was a likelihood of confusion because the hosted website offered TV licences for a price exceeding the BBC’s prescribed fee.
The domain name was awarded to the BBC, as the DRS panel was satisfied that the domain name was an “abusive registration”.
Source: http://ipprotheinternet.com/ipprotheinternetnews/article.php?article_id=4981#.V3z2cjUgfm4
The report, published on 5 July, cited complainants from 40 countries and 37 cases fewer cases but two more complaints than 2014.
Nominet arrived at the estimated £7.74 million figure assuming court and legal fee savings of £15,000 per complaint that progresses to a formal dispute resolution.
In contrast, it costs nothing to lodge a dispute with the DRS. A dispute that includes mediation, a first decision and an appeal would cost £4,500.
The DRS was created in 2001 to offer an alternative method of resolving disputes relating to Nominet’s .UK domain names.
“To successfully make a complaint using our Dispute Resolution Service you must be able to prove the domain name, in the hands of the current registrant, is an abusive registration,” commented Nick Wenban-Smith, senior legal counsel at Nominet.
Smith believes that it is important that businesses and individuals are able to protect themselves against domain name abuses. They showed an increasing need to do so in 2015, with the number of settlements between parties falling to 93 cases from 130 in 2014.
“Whether you’re a family business, a great British institution or a global franchise phenomenon, Nominets DRS can help to protect your rights in the .uk namespace.”
Among the 728 complaints filed in 2015, Nominet published details of several high profile cases, including complaints from Bank of Scotland, Lucasfilm and the BBC.
Bank of Scotland lodged two complaints over typosquatting, with bankofscoltland.co.uk and hallifaxbnk.co.uk said to be profiting from confusion. Both domain names were awarded to Bank of Scotland in summary decisions through DRS.
Lucasfilm filed a complaint over starwars.co.uk and other domains, through which the respondent sold fancy dress costumes, including Star Wars-branded costumes.
An appeal panel considered this a clear use of the “pulling power” of the Star Wars trademark and transferred seven domain names to Lucasfilm.
The BBC, which is responsible for TV licensing fee collection, brought a complaint against telivisionlicensing.co.uk, arguing that there was a likelihood of confusion because the hosted website offered TV licences for a price exceeding the BBC’s prescribed fee.
The domain name was awarded to the BBC, as the DRS panel was satisfied that the domain name was an “abusive registration”.
Source: http://ipprotheinternet.com/ipprotheinternetnews/article.php?article_id=4981#.V3z2cjUgfm4
