After several minutes of pondering and looking at keyword analyzers, you find the perfect domain to go with your website. You purchase the domain, under the assumption that it is available.

A few weeks later, you receive a letter from an attorney saying that the new domain name has breached someone else’s trademark. As a result, you are facing a potential legal battle that could cause you to lose your domain name, your reputation and maybe even worse. Fortunately, with domain name arbitration, there’s a chance you can resolve the situation and avoid any possible repercussions .

What is domain name arbitration? It is a process in which the complainant and the original holder of the domain try to work out a reasonable agreement as to who actually holds the rights to the domain name. The arbitration is done through the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, (also known as UDRP). This is a special arbitration method set forth by the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) organization. It is used for most domain disputes. It has the benefit of being less expensive than traditional litigation.

In order to initiate a domain name arbitration proceeding, a webmaster must go through a provider that has been approved by ICANN to deal with such disputes. Once the arbitration begins, the provider will start by determining if the complainant has merit in their claim. They will do this by evaluating whether the domain name in question is similar to a trademark or domain name owned by the claimant.

They will then determine what rights the claimant has to the title. They will also establish whether or not the domain name was chosen accidentally or with the intention of taking advantage of the claimant’s brand popularity. If it is found the domain name was chosen in bad faith, the domain name will be transferred to the claimant. Otherwise, the original owner will retain possession of the domain name.

If either party is not satisfied with a domain arbitration proceeding, they can challenge the findings in a regular courtroom. An example of this happened with Robert De Niro, when he tried to claim the rights to any domain name containing the phrase ‘Tribeca.’ He is still in court trying to retain the rights to Tribeca.net, which has been claimed by another person.

In conclusion, domain arbitration is a convenient alternative to avoiding taking a domain name dispute into a courtroom. There is the opportunity to go to court if either side feels an arbitration isn’t fair. Yet, for most webmasters, the decisions made by the UDRP panel are adequate, since getting their consul is a lot cheaper than going to a judge.