GUIDANCE NOTE

NOMINET DISPUTE RESOLUTION SERVICE

What is the Dispute Resolution Service (DRS)?

Nominet administers the .uk top level domain names. It handles tens of thousands of registrations and renewals
each month, about 1 in 1,600 of which result in dispute.
Nominet provides the DRS as an alternative to court proceedings. It has the advantages of being faster and
cheaper.
Typical Examples of Disputes
1. Registering Domain Names to Sell
This is where the domain name has been registered by the Respondent with the deliberate (and primary)
intention to sell it to the Complainant (who owns rights in a name similar or identical to the domain name) at a
premium (“cybersquatting”).
2. Registering the business name of a competitor as a domain name
This is where the Complainant has rights in a name similar or identical to the domain name registered by the
Respondent and the parties have a competitive relationship. Even if the Respondent has not used the domain
name it may be found to be unlawfully blocking registration by the Complainant.
3. Using the name of a well-known company or trademark in a domain name
This could include the following scenarios:
(a) The Complainant’s distributor registering the domain name.
(b) A third-party registering the domain name and trading from a website which sells products not connected
to the Complainant.
(c) A third-party registering the domain name and operating the website as a tribute or criticism site about
the Complainant.
(d) A third-party registering the domain name and providing no explanation or reason for doing so.
4. Generic/Descriptive Domain Names
“Nominet receives a considerable number of complaints concerning domain names which could be described as
descriptive of a business or generic. Despite the number of complaints received few have progressed all the way
to a decision.”
5. Acronyms
“These do not automatically fail, but some do and many more never reach the decision stage…If they are to
succeed, the Expert must be convinced that the Complainant has rights in that particular name (i.e. the initials)
not an expanded version of it. Even if the organisation is very large and well known, or is clearly only known by
its initials, this must be proved by the evidence.”
6. "Agent" cases and ex-employees
This is where an agent registers the domain name of the principal in the agent’s own name.
These cases have sometimes been held to be a contractual dispute between the parties and sometimes held to
be Abusive Registrations as they should have been registered in the name of the principal.
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How the DRS works

1. Nominet provides free mediation in the event of dispute.
2. If mediation does not succeed, Nominet provides the DRS leading to an expert decision to settle the
dispute (provided by independent experts).
3. There is an appeal stage (provided by independent experts).
Nominet provides the DRS for free. However, a fee is charged for the independent expert.
If a respondent fails to respond, the complainant does not automatically win the case. In this event, the
independent expert will draw conclusions on the facts from a respondent's failure to respond.
The DRS is binding on the parties because the complainant agrees to be bound by the rules of the DRS when
making a valid complaint and the respondent (being the registrant of a domain name) is bound by the rules of
the DRS at the time of registration, as part of Nominet's Terms and Conditions.
Mediation
“At Nominet mediation is attempted prior to an expert decision and is conducted by telephone.
If a respondent (the registrant of the domain name in dispute) responds to a complaint within the fifteen working
day deadline then, following the opportunity for the complainant to reply, the case enters a period of ten working
days of informal mediation.”
The mediator has a series of telephone calls with each party to encourage communication. By entering the
mediation process the parties are not bound to settle their case.
“Nominet’s mediators all follow the CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) mediator accreditation training
and, once accredited, follow a regular programme of Continuing Professional Development.”
Expert Decision
If mediation does not resolve the dispute, and the parties wish to proceed to the expert decision, the
complainant pays the expert’s fee.
The mediator’s notes and any correspondence generated during the mediation period are removed from the file
and not available to the expert.
The expert will return the signed decision to Nominet, and Nominet passes it on to the parties following the
timetable. “The parties can then accept the decision (as happens in almost every case) or can appeal.”
Basis for Expert Decision
“A decision is a formal written document in which the expert decides on the basis of the tests set out in the
Policy and Procedure whether the complainant has succeeded in showing that they have rights and that the
domain name in the hands of the respondent is an abusive registration. The expert will set out any outstanding
procedural matters, the contentions of the parties, what he/she has accepted as fact, what his/her views are on
the arguments and their decision.”
“The DRS is based on a set of binding rules. The rules which explain the principles of the system are called the
"Policy" and these explain what a complainant has to prove in order to win and what the respondent can use as
evidence in response. The "Procedure" explains all the administrative parts of the DRS.”
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Each case is decided on its own merits. An independent expert is not bound to follow a decision in a previous
case.
“The most common reasons for an Expert to find against a party…is a failure to supply any evidence to back up
[its] assertions and explain in detail the situation.”
The standard of proof is on the balance of probabilities.
Result of Decision
“Generally, if the expert thinks that the complainant has met the tests in the Policy, they will order that the
domain name is transferred to the complainant. If they think that the complainant has failed to do that, they will
order that no action is taken. The expert can order that the domain name is suspended (that means that it is
prevented from working but is not deleted) or cancelled (deleted), but this is unusual. The expert can also
declare that the complainant was "reverse domain name hijacking" which means that the expert thinks that the
complainant was misusing the DRS in bad faith in order to try to get a good domain name without any good
reason.”
The expert decision is sent to the parties and published on the Nominet website. As such, it is in the public
domain.
Appeals
Less than 0.01% of decisions are appealed.
A party wishing to appeal must submit one of the following within 10 working days of the date of deemed service
of the expert decision on the parties:
 an appeal notice with the appeal fee (£3,000 + VAT); or
 a notice of intention to appeal plus a deposit (£300 + VAT).
If a party chooses to send a notice of intention to appeal, it then has 15 working days to submit the appeal
notice to Nominet.
The party receiving an appeal notice can in turn send an appeal notice response explaining why the appeal
should be turned down.
An appeal is heard by a panel of 3 experts, who have 30 days to make their decision.
Appeal decisions are 'persuasive but not binding' on other experts.

Yasmin Joomraty
Laurence Kaye Solicitors
© Laurence Kaye 2007
T: 01923 352 117
E: laurie@laurencekaye.com
www.laurencekaye.com
http://laurencekaye.typepad.com/
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This guidance note is not intended to be exhaustive and it does not constitute or substitute legal
advice, which should be sought on a case by case basis.
Please feel free to copy or make available this guidance note without modification in print or electronic form for
non-commercial purposes. If you do so, please include this disclaimer and copyright wording with attribution. If
you want to re-publish or make the whole or part of this guidance note available in a commercial service or
publication, please contact the author at laurie@laurencekaye.com.