2025 Marks Record-Breaking Year for WIPO Domain Name Disputes
January 14, 2026
WIPO reached a new milestone in 2025, managing over 6,200 domain name cases in 2025 – its highest caseload on record. Over the past 25 years, WIPO has resolved over 80,000 cases. This includes over 70,000 generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) cases and nearly 10,000 country-code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) cases.
Growth in WIPO UDRP and ccTLD cases
These case filing numbers show the continued importance of the WIPO-administered Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) as a vital part of trademark owners' online brand protection toolkit. Trademark holders worldwide continue to turn to WIPO and the UDRP to combat digital infringement, with the majority of cases originating from the United States, France, and the United Kingdom.
Geographic Distribution of Complainant and Respondent Countries in 2025
Celebrating 25 years of the UDRP: WIPO Conference Brings Together Internet Community
2025 was an important year for domain name dispute resolution policy, marking the 25th anniversary of the WIPO-created UDRP. To commemorate this milestone, WIPO hosted a global conference that brought together over 800 participants, including UDRP panelists, brand owners, trademark practitioners, registrars, ccTLD administrators, and academics. WIPO’s conference was a retrospective on the UDRP's evolution and impact, took stock of jurisprudential trends, and explored the future landscape of the domain names enforcement ecosystem. Topics also included the looming introduction of New gTLDs, ICANN’s planned review of the UDRP, and DNS abuse and enforcement forecasts, including the role of AI.
WIPO-ICA UDRP Review
2025 offered another UDRP milestone: the publication of a Report by WIPO and the Internet Commerce Association (ICA) reviewing the UDRP and outlining a roadmap for its future.
Drawing on 25 years of case experience at WIPO and the perspectives of a diverse group of UDRP experts, the Report highlights a number of high-consensus and readily implementable recommendations that could strengthen the administration of the UDRP, while affirming the stability, predictability, and success of the UDRP. In a space with diverse views and interests, the WIPO-ICA Review Project stands out for its collaborative and consensus-based approach to create a forward-looking report grounded in the tremendous success of the UDRP to help guide the long-anticipated Phase 2 of ICANN’s Review of Rights Protection Mechanisms.
An executive summary table and the Final Report were published in December.
WIPO Appointed as Exclusive Provider for Legal Rights Objections and String Confusion Objections
Building on its legacy of leadership in domain name dispute resolution, WIPO was appointed as the exclusive provider for Legal Rights Objections (LRO) and String Confusion Objections (SCO) in ICANN’s New gTLD Program: 2026 Round.
Prior to ICANN’s approval of a New gTLD, third parties can file an objection to an application on one of four grounds, including two managed by WIPO: LRO regarding the potential infringement of existing trademark rights and SCO regarding similarity to existing or applied-for TLD strings (the other two types of objections are managed by the International Chamber of Commerce.)
In December, ICANN published the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook providing a detailed roadmap from application to evaluation, objection, and approval. The 2026 new gTLD Round is expected to open for applications from April to August 2026, with Objections following in Q3 or Q4 2026.
Interested parties can monitor LRO and SCO updates on WIPO’s webpages and on ICANN’s New gTLD Program site.
WIPO ccTLD Program Updates
In 2025, WIPO began accepting cases for .HT (Haiti) and received its first filings and first decisions for .AD (Andorra), .CV (Cabo Verde), and .LV (Latvia). WIPO now provides dispute resolution services to 87 ccTLDs.
WIPO ccTLD Map
In 2025, WIPO assisted national registries in updating their dispute policies: updating .BO (Bolivia), .PH (Philippines), and .HN (Honduras) dispute policies to be paperless procedures, and updating .MA (Morocco) to include the Arabic script المغرب. ccTLD and GIs as a protected right.
The top 10 ccTLDs in 2025 in terms of domain name case filings were: .CO (Colombia), .AU (Australia), .AI (Anguilla), .CN (China), .IO (British Indian Ocean Territory), .MX (Mexico), .CC (Cocos Islands), .ES (Spain), .NL (Kingdom of the Netherlands), and .SE (Sweden).
WIPO saw increases in domain name case filings for the ccTLDs of .CO (Colombia), .AU (Australia), .IO (British Indian Ocean Territory), .MX (Mexico), .IE (Ireland), and .UA (Ukraine).
WIPO continues to promote collaboration between IP offices and ccTLD registries creating synergies for the benefit of their users. IP Offices may provide information to users on domain name registrations while ccTLD Registries may refer users to their IP office for trademark registrations. Interested parties can consult the IP Offices and ccTLD Registries flyer.
Top 10 ccTLDs by Case Volume
Connecting with Global Stakeholders in 2025
Throughout 2025, WIPO continued to expand its educational outreach, hosting over 30 webinars designed for diverse audiences including filing parties, law firms, universities, brand owners, ccTLD registries, and domain name experts worldwide. Our webinar program attracted thousands of participants from across the globe, demonstrating the international demand for expertise in intellectual property and domain name dispute resolution. Webinars were delivered in English, French, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
Participants joined from around the world, including from France, Guatemala, India, Poland, Rwanda, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United States, and Uruguay. These sessions provided essential guidance on WIPO's dispute resolution services, procedural updates, and best practices in domain name management and intellectual property protection. Interested parties can consult our recorded webinars page.
Noteworthy UDRP Cases in 2025
- Trademark Infringement or Cybersquatting? Panel Opines on Scope of the UDRP
In a case filed by a US social media influencer with over 11 million followers on TikTok, the Panel clarified that trademark infringement issues are not necessarily “outside the scope” of the UDRP, but that these types of cases can overlap with, and therefore be analyzed under, the Policy, e.g., to avoid bias against complainants in cases where the respondent introduces complexities (which the respondent could do without challenge). WIPO Case No. D2025-1839
- Warning on AI Use in UDRP Proceedings
The Panel in this case set out heightened scrutiny standards for AI-generated pleadings – either complaints or responses – in UDRP cases. The Panel underscored that AI tools “may complement but are not a substitute for professional advice”, and that AI-generated responses “are unlikely to inspire confidence” unless thoroughly reviewed and verified, and especially where unsupported by evidence. WIPO Case No. D2025-2916
- Dictionary Terms and “Brandable” Names: Limits to the Respondent’s Defense
The Respondent argued that the domain name is a combination of terms with a dictionary meaning in different languages (Greek, Turkish, and English), registered as part of a portfolio of “brandable” domain names. The Panel called upon the Respondent to show that the domain name, taken as a whole, conveys a linguistic or conceptual meaning independent of the complainant’s mark. WIPO Case No. D2025-3938
- Top-Level Domain Impact
The choice of Top-Level Domain (.AI) – which formed part of the Complainant’s trademark – tipped the balance in favor of the Complainant in the Panel’s assessment of whether the domain name was registered for any dictionary meaning / “brandable” features vs an intent to target the brand owner. WIPO Case No. DAI2025-0060
- UDRP used by Celebrities to Combat Online Infringement
In 2025, Snoop Dogg and Alexandra Cooper, the host of a podcast “Call Her Daddy” attracting over 10 million listeners per episode, were among celebrities and personalities who turned to WIPO and the UDRP when faced with infringing content online and were able to successfully protect their brand and official channels through recovery of infringing domain names. WIPO Case Nos. D2025-3784 and D2025-2944
- Web3 Claims Fail to Help Keep Web2 Domain
The Respondent claimed the disputed domain name had been registered in connection to its alleged Web3 token platform, arguing that any challenge would constitute an infringement of its IP rights in that technology. The Panel rejected this as irrelevant for determining the Respondent’s entitlement under the UDRP to retain the domain name in the Web2 space. WIPO Case No. D2025-2329
- DNS Abuse and Fraud on the Rise
In a number of cases, the Complainants successfully halted phishing campaigns.
The Respondent’s use of the domain name in one case nearly diverted USD 800,000 to a fraudulent bank account. WIPO Case No. D2025-3149
The Respondent hijacked an email directed to the Complainant, continuing the email chain from the malicious address associated with the disputed domain name (which masqueraded as a legitimate email of an employee). WIPO Case No. D2025-3338
WIPO Domain Name Statistics in 2025
Top 10 Industries
WIPO Case Outcomes
Disputed Domain Name by TLD
Top 10 UDRP Filers
Top 10 Filing UDRP Counsels