Someone registered my trademark as a domain: what now?
You can usually have the domain transferred to you without going to court. For a .com or other generic domain, a UDRP complaint at WIPO costs €1,050 with Adora IP plus a $1,500 WIPO fee, and takes about two months. You must prove all three elements of UDRP paragraph 4(a), including bad faith at registration and in use.
Which procedure applies to my domain?
The extension decides the procedure. Generic domains such as .com, .net and .shop fall under the UDRP, while most country-code domains have their own rules.
| Extension | Procedure | Official fee, 1 domain | Bad faith needed at |
|---|---|---|---|
| .com, .net, .org, .shop and other generic domains | UDRP | $1,500 at WIPO | Registration and use |
| .eu | .eu ADR | €1,300, €700 in 2026 | Registration or use |
| .uk | Nominet DRS, run by WIPO | £200 Summary, £750 full decision | Registration or use |
| .es | Red.es procedure (in Spanish) | €1,400 at WIPO | Registration or use |
| .bg | Register.BG's own rules | WIPO lists no provider for .bg | Ask us |
Country-code procedures are easier to win in one respect: bad faith at registration or in use is enough, where the UDRP needs both.
What do I have to prove under the UDRP?
Paragraph 4(a) of the UDRP sets three elements, and a complaint fails if any one is missing.
| Element | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| 4(a)(i) The domain is identical or confusingly similar to your mark | Usually the easiest. Your mark, a misspelling of it, or your mark plus a word all qualify |
| 4(a)(ii) The holder has no rights or legitimate interests | You show a first case, for example no licence and no business under the name, and the holder then has to answer it |
| 4(a)(iii) Registered and used in bad faith | Offers to sell to you, ads for your competitors, copies of your site, or emails pretending to be you |
The three elements covers each one with decided cases.
Do I need a registered trademark?
A registered trademark is the simplest proof of rights, and any registration counts: national, EU or international. Section 1.1 of the WIPO Overview 3.1 covers the types of rights that qualify. An unregistered mark can work too, but section 1.3 asks for evidence that the public recognises the name as yours, such as sales figures, advertising and press coverage.
If you have no registration yet, file one now. An EU trademark costs €1,530 all in for one class with us and covers 27 countries.
Does it matter when the domain was registered?
Yes, more than anything else. If the domain was registered before your trademark rights existed, the holder could not have been targeting you, and section 3.8 of the WIPO Overview 3.1 says bad faith will normally not be found. In WirecardD2015-0703 WIPO decision, 2015, the panel denied the complaint over boon.com and found reverse domain name hijacking, because the domain predated the trademark by 16 years. In HyzonD2024-0536 WIPO decision, 2024, hyzon.com stayed with its holder even though the holder never replied, because the domain dated from December 2018 and Hyzon's earliest trademark filing from January 2020.
Check the creation date in the WHOIS record before anything else. How to find out when a domain was first registered shows how.
What are my options, and what do they cost?
| Option | Cost | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Watch and wait | From €125 a year for a trademark watch | The domain is parked and doing no harm yet |
| Buy the domain | Most resales fall between $1,000 and $3,000, per Brandpa's buyer survey and DNJournal's sales tracker | The price is low and there is no pattern of other registrations |
| UDRP complaint | €1,050 plus $1,500 to WIPO | Clear targeting of your brand, a resale demand or impersonation |
| Expedited UDRP | €1,050 plus $4,000 to WIPO, decision within one month | A live phishing site or fake invoices |
| Court action | Up to £60,000 in recoverable costs in England's Intellectual Property Enterprise Court | You also want damages, which the UDRP cannot award |
Do not contact the holder before deciding. It raises the price, and their reply can be used against you. Should you pay a cybersquatter? covers buying without weakening a later complaint.
What happens if the domain is used for phishing?
Report it to the registrar's abuse address and the hosting provider the same day, then file the complaint. The abuse route can take a site down in days. The UDRP gets you the domain itself. Lookalike domains used to send fake emails sets out the first 24 hours.