It has been a busy year for domain scammers – and the brand owners fighting back against them. According to numbers published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Forum, the number of complaints brought under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) saw an annual increase of approximately 8 percent through year-end 2023. In all, nearly 9,000 complaints were filed, many challenging more than one fraudulent domain. This continues a pattern seen over the past decade, during which the number of complaints has risen a whopping 214 percent.

UDRP complaints are a tool for brand owners to seek the transfer or cancellation of domains registered in bad faith and that misappropriate trademarks in the website URL. Scammers frequently register domains with similar-looking URLs to prey on unsuspecting company employees and unwary consumers. These domains are often used in complex phishing scams, and many have been used to dupe companies and consumers out of tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Domain scams target virtually all types of businesses, and WIPO reports that the most frequent complainants in 2023 were in the following industries: (1) banking and finance: 11.2 percent; (2) biotechnology and pharmaceuticals: 9.7 percent; (3) retail: 9.6 percent; (4) Internet and IT: 9.6 percent; and (5) fashion: 8.7 percent.

Domain scams have been compared to a whack-a-mole challenge: As soon as one fraudulent domain is beaten down, another pops up. But UDRP complaints provide an efficient means to combat these scams and prevent financial loss. First, they are relatively inexpensive to file – typically less than $1,500 in filing fees. Second, they are prompt. Decisions are rendered in approximately 30 days, and after a short 10-day wait period, the domains are transferred to the rightful owner. Third, they are highly effective. WIPO statistics show that in 2023, in 96 percent of UDRP complaints, the complainant succeeded in canceling or transferring the challenged domain.

There is no reason to expect that 2024 will be any different than years past. UDRP complaints remain one of the most efficient and effective means to take down fraudulent domains, and we expect they will continue to grow in number, just as the number of Internet scams proliferate.

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