The procedure for resolving domain disputes
Authors: Petriv M.V. 
Published: September 2023

The article is devoted to a complex scientific study of the procedure for consideration and resolution of domain disputes. The article discloses the legal nature of the domain name, features of judicial and extrajudicial dispute resolution. It has been established that the subject of domain disputes is the illegal use of other people’s trademarks, commercial names, other commercial designations, and copyright objects in domain names. It has been proven that the procedure for resolving domain disputes can be judicial or extrajudicial; in the case of a judicial procedure for the protection of rights to a domain name, disputes are considered by a court, in an out-of-court case, by an arbitrator of the WIPO Mediation and Conciliation Center (or another similar structure). It has been proven that a significant problem in law enforcement is legal uncertainty regarding the legal regime of a domain name. It has been established that a domain dispute arises regarding the legality of the use of a domain name by a certain person. It is justified that a domain and a domain name are not identical concepts; a domain name is a unique name of a part of the hierarchical address space of the Internet, in relation to which domain disputes arise. It is substantiated that the determining factor for the protection of the violated right by the court is the correct identification by the plaintiff of the object of the intellectual property right, for the protection of which a case has been initiated in court, and which is reflected in the content of the domain, since in case of failure to indicate such an object, the court may refuse to satisfy the claim , because the domain itself as an object does not receive legal protection.It has been established that the out-of-court procedure for resolving domain disputes is a convenient mechanism for the prompt protection of rights to a trademark that is displayed in someone else’s domain name without the right holder’s permission and thereby creates confusion with the right holder’s trademark, providing undue influence on consumers.It has been established that the reason for the occurrence of domain disputes is: the domain name is identical or deceptively similar to the trademark to which the plaintiff has intellectual property rights; the owner of the domain name has no rights or legal interests in the domain name; such domain name is registered or used in bad faith.It has been proven that when resolving domain disputes, special methods of protecting domain name rights are used – re-delegating domain name rights to the plaintiff or canceling domain name registration.It has been established that the judicial procedure for resolving domain disputes is universal and can be applied to the protection of rights to any object of intellectual property rights that can be reflected in a domain name (it concerns not only trademarks, but also commercial names, geographical indications, copyright objects, etc.). It is justified that such an approach is expedient to apply in relation to the out-of- court procedure for resolving domain name disputes, however, the relevant provisions must be approved by ICANN, making appropriate changes to Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.