What does a UDRP complaint cost?
A UDRP complaint costs €1,050 in legal fees to Adora IP, plus a WIPO filing fee that starts at $1,500. For a single domain decided by a single panelist, the total is about €2,400 depending on the exchange rate. Both amounts are payable up front and neither is recoverable from the other side.
What the WIPO filing fee covers
The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center charges a fixed fee per case, set in US dollars. It covers administration of the case and the panelist's fee.
| Case | Panelists | WIPO fee |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 domain names | 1 | $1,500 |
| 1 to 5 domain names | 3 | $4,000 |
| 6 to 10 domain names | 1 | $2,000 |
| 6 to 10 domain names | 3 | $5,000 |
Figures above are WIPO's published schedule for gTLD cases. Confirm the current amount at filing, because WIPO revises it periodically.
A single panelist is the default and is right for almost every case. Three panelists cost substantially more and are worth it only where the facts are genuinely contested or the domain is valuable enough to justify the certainty.
What our €1,050 covers
Case assessment, evidence gathering, drafting the complaint, filing it with WIPO, handling the procedural correspondence and seeing the transfer through with the registrar.
If the registrant files a response and the panel accepts a supplemental filing, that is included. If the case turns into court proceedings, that is separate work at €200 an hour.
The €1,050 excludes VAT.
Can you recover your costs?
No. The UDRP has no costs mechanism. A panel can order the domain transferred or cancelled and nothing else. It cannot award damages, legal fees or the filing fee, even where the registrant's conduct was blatant.
This is the trade-off the UDRP makes. It is far faster and cheaper than litigation, and the price of that is a narrow remedy.
Is it cheaper to just buy the domain?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking honestly before filing.
If a squatter wants €500 for a domain, paying is cheaper than a €2,400 complaint. The arguments against are that paying rewards the behaviour, marks you as a buyer who pays, and does nothing about the next domain the same person registers. Where there is a pattern of registrations against your brand, a decision on the record is worth more than one recovered domain.
Where the demand runs to five figures, the complaint is almost always the better route, assuming the case is strong.
What if we lose?
You lose the fees. The domain stays where it is, and the registrant knows you want it.
That is the reason we assess the case before you commit rather than after. If the second element looks weak, or the domain predates your trademark rights, we tell you and you keep your money.