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 does WIPO's expedited UDRP track cost?
WIPO's expedited UDRP track costs $4,000 for one to five domain names, against $1,500 for a standard case, and WIPO commits to a decision within one month of the case starting. The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center introduced it on 9 March 2026, in its notice on the updated UDRP fee schedule.
| Track | WIPO fee, 1 to 5 domains | Panel | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $1,500 | 1 panelist | Usually about two months |
| Expedited | $4,000 | 1 panelist only | Within one month of commencement |
Of the $4,000, $1,000 goes to WIPO and $3,000 to the panel. The expedited track is not available where the case needs three panelists, so a respondent asking for a three-member panel takes the case off it. A respondent can also expedite a standard single-panel case themselves, from the date of their response, by paying $2,500.
Expedition is worth paying for when the domain is live and doing damage, such as a phishing site or an email domain sending fake invoices. For a parked domain, the standard track saves $2,500.
Does WIPO refund the filing fee if you withdraw?
WIPO refunds most of the filing fee if you withdraw a UDRP complaint before the respondent is formally notified, keeping $100 for one to five domain names. The WIPO UDRP fee schedule, revised by the notice of 9 March 2026, sets the amounts it keeps at each stage.
| When the case ends | WIPO keeps, 1 to 5 domains |
|---|---|
| Withdrawn before the respondent is formally notified | $100 |
| Settled or withdrawn after notification, before a panel is appointed | $500 |
| After the panel is appointed | The whole fee. No refund |
Most early terminations are settlements: the respondent agrees to transfer the domain once the complaint lands. Should you pay a cybersquatter? covers how a settlement works.
How do WIPO, Forum and the CAC fees compare?
For a single domain decided by one panelist, the Czech Arbitration Court is the cheapest UDRP provider at €800, Forum charges $1,330 and WIPO $1,500. The figures below are each provider's published schedule, checked on 23 October 2026.
| Provider | 1 domain, 1 panelist | 1 domain, 3 panelists | Kept if you withdraw before a panel is appointed |
|---|---|---|---|
| WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center | $1,500 (1 to 5 domains) | $4,000 | $100 before notification, $500 after |
| Forum | $1,330 (1 to 2 domains) | $2,660 | Non-refundable, except under Forum Supplemental Rule 9 |
| Czech Arbitration Court | €800 (1 to 5 domains) | €2,600 | The €400 administrative fee |
Two catches sit behind the cheaper headline fees. Forum's lowest tier covers only two domains, so a three-domain complaint costs $1,480. The CAC adds a further €300 for one to five domains if the respondent files a response, under its published fee rules.
We file UDRP complaints with WIPO by default. WIPO publishes every decision, and the WIPO Overview 3.1 sets out how its panels approach each issue, so the outcome is easier to predict. Where a case is better suited to another provider, we say so.
What does a UDRP complaint cost in total?
One complaint can cover up to five domains held by the same registrant for the same WIPO fee, so five domains cost no more than one. These budgets assume a WIPO case and exclude VAT on our fee.
| Case | Our fee | WIPO fee | Typical time to decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 domain, 1 panelist | €1,050 | $1,500 | About two months |
| 5 domains, same registrant, 1 panelist | €1,050 | $1,500 | About two months |
| 1 to 5 domains, expedited track | €1,050 | $4,000 | Within one month of commencement |
| 1 to 5 domains, 3 panelists | €1,050 | $4,000 | About two months |
The WIPO fee is paid in US dollars directly to WIPO. We quote it separately because the euro amount moves with the exchange rate.
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.
| Option | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| UDRP complaint | About €2,400: €1,050 to us plus a WIPO filing fee from $1,500 |
| Buying the domain | Most resales fall between $1,000 and $3,000, though the reported average was $16,233 in the first half of 2025, pulled up by a small number of high-value outliers |
| UK court litigation | Up to £60,000 in recoverable costs even in the cost-capped Intellectual Property Enterprise Court multi-track, plus anything above that cap out of your own pocket |
Domain resale figures are from Brandpa's buyer survey and DNJournal's sales tracker. The IPEC figure is the multi-track costs cap set by the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, in force since 1 October 2022.
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. Should you pay a cybersquatter? covers how to approach a purchase without weakening a later complaint.
Where the demand runs to five figures, the complaint is almost always the better route, assuming the case is strong, and litigation is rarely worth it for a single domain: even England's cost-capped IPEC can leave you paying tens of thousands of pounds that a UDRP complaint would never approach.
What if we lose?
You lose the fees and the domain stays where it is. What your options are afterwards, including buying the domain and going to court, covers what is still open to you.
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.