“The UDRP is an administrative alternative dispute resolution policy which creates a procedure specifically designed to provide a fast and cheap means for resolving domain name disputes. (internal citations omitted). On average, it takes no more than two months to resolve a domain name dispute under the UDRP.” –American Girl, LLC v. Nameview, Inc., 381 F.Supp.2d 876 (E.D. Wis. 2005)

Domain Name Disputes Rise
In the late 1990s, the Internet was exploding. People were racing to register choice domain names and corporations were paying millions for them—sparking chaos and domain name disputes in the process. Recognizing the need to regulate this new realm, the United States Department of Commerce created ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which established a mandatory dispute resolution policy for administering domain name conflicts.

The National Arbitration Forum Responds
To oversee and administer these cases, ICANN selected the National Arbitration Forum (FORUM), an international provider of arbitration services. In late 1999, we assembled a specialized panel, identifying legal experts from around the world with trademark, copyright, and e-commerce experience. We drafted supplemental rules and developed the technological systems necessary to handle a high-volume, international caseload. Since then, over 12,000 domain name disputes have been filed worldwide. The FORUM efficiently resolves disputes involving diverse parties and trademarks ranging from Google to Hillary Clinton and Neiman Marcus to Nike.