Domain Disputes and Solutions in Turkey and the World

Domain Disputes and Solutions in Turkey and the World

Domain disputes are frequently encountered in domain registration processes, especially in large brand domains. This situation leads to the start of a resolution process that lasts between 2 and 6 months.

Generally, the domain lawsuits are concluded in favor of the trademark owner.

There are 2 reasons of this.

1. The domain owner is usually a domain investor or domain hunter and does not have much legal knowledge about domain disputes.
2. The plaintiff company – the brand owner usually works with a lawyer and has strong arguments for the domain and brand.

In which cases can you object to a registered domain?

1. Being the same of the domain address as a trademark or similar in a way that will cause confusion
2. Registering and using the domain address maliciously

In the domain disputes, ICANN is involved in gTLDs such as .com .net .xyz .online etc. that we call generic top-level domains.

In country-coded domain extensions, which we call ccTLD, the dispute resolution policy of each country is different and the solutions have been left to the country registry.

The disputes regarding the domain in the ICANN side are discussed under the policy heading called UDRP.

Within the scope of UDRP, 6 different organizations have been authorized by ICANN as the dispute resolution authority.

The most applied among these organizations is WIPO.

1. The National Arbitration Forum (NAF)
2. The Czech Arbitration Court (CAC)
3. Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center (ADNDRC)
4. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 
5. Arab Center for Domain Name Dispute Resolution (ACDR)
6. National Arbitration Forum (ADR Forum)

TRABIS - Dispute Resolution Service Provider (CRSP)

It is carried out in our country through the organizations called Dispute Resolution Service Provider (CRSP) in .TR domains executed by Trabis.

There are two CRSP institutions accredited in the .tr period with TRABIS, which has a history of only one month.

• Information Technologies and Internet Security Association (BTİDER)
• TOBB UYUM Mediation and Dispute Resolution Center

In which cases can you apply for the CRSP?

• The fact that a domain bears a trade or service mark, trade name, business name or person name and the brand has been allocated to the owner of the company for the purpose of selling,
• The fact that the domain has been purchased and allocated to prevent the owner of the brand, trade name, business name or other identifying mark used in trade from using this brand, title, name or sign,
• The fact that the domain has been allocated for the purpose of harming the business or activities of commercial competitors.

How to make application for the CRSP?

The complainant makes his/her application directly on the website of the CRSP.

An announcement is made on the Internet page by the CRSP and the relevant domain name is frozen.

Dispute Resolution Service Provider (CRSP) Fees

1. For the year 2022, the arbitrator's fee is one thousand Turkish Liras for each arbitrator.
2. The CRSP fee is half of the fee determined for each arbitrator.
3. The arbitrator's fee and the CRSP fee are paid by the complainant to the CRSP at the time of application.
4. The arbitrator fees are refunded in cases where the dispute resolution process is terminated due to the agreement of the parties before the arbitrator or arbitral tribunal is determined or the complainant's withdrawal from his complaint.