UDRP provides for a swift resolution of cybersquatting, namely abusive registration of Internet domain names in breach of trademark rights.
The procedure generally takes about 2-3 months, with only one round of written submissions, no discovery, witnesses or hearings taking place.
In terms of language of proceedings, it is normally the language of the registration agreement.
As such, paragraph 11(a) of the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy provide that unless otherwise agreed by the parties or specified otherwise in the registration agreement between the respondent and the registrar in relation to the disputed domain name, the language of the proceeding shall be the language of the registration agreement, subject to the authority of the panel to determine otherwise, having regard to the circumstances of the administrative proceeding.
Generally, domain name registration agreements are available in more than one language. In such cases, complainants cannot determine with certainty the language in which they should file the complaint.
Under such circumstances, complainants normally submit the complaint in the language of their choice. Subsequently, the language of the proceedings is confirmed by the registrar, at the request of the center administering the case.
The center administering the case, such as the WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Center, notifies the parties of such discrepancy, invites the complainant to either translate the complaint or, if not already included in the original complaint, to formally submit a motivated request that the proceedings be conducted in the language of the complaint. The respondent is given a subsequent opportunity to comment on or to oppose (if it wishes, in the language of the Registration Agreement) the complainant’s arguments. (WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Third Edition, section 4.5.2)
The language of the proceedings is determined by panels taking into account the parties’ position and the overall circumstances of the case.
English language of the proceedings where registration agreement was in other language
- Language of the registration agreement: Chinese
For a large number of cases, generally filed against respondents from China, the language of the registration agreement is Chinese. Some of the cases, carried for example with under the WIPO Rules, are conducted in Chinese (1.26% of the WIPO cases, for example).
In the other cases, complainants generally submit requests for the language of the proceedings to be English.
The arguments relied upon by the complainants refer in practice first to the nature of the domain name, respectively that the domain name is written in Latin characters instead of Chinese characters (see e.g., the case concerning the domain name <aperammetal>, or the case concerning <ibmdeveloper.net>).
The panels also take into account the composition of the domain name in the sense that it has no specific meaning in Chinese or that it includes, in addition to the trademark of the complainant, an additional term in English, which is an indication that the respondent understands English (such as the word “metal” in the domain name in dispute <aperammetal>, or the term “official” in the domain name <jmwestonofficial.com>).
Also, complainants sometimes invoke arguments outside the composition of the domain name, such as the content of the website: if it is in English language it adds to the indication that the respondent understands English. For example, if the website featured various phrases in English including “Email login” and “Remember & aut-login” such as in the case concerning the domain name <lego-mall.shop>, or if “the currency displayed on the website at the time of Complaint was dollar sign “$” instead of Chinese currency” and the respondent “claimed to have organized shows in the Americas on the website”, such as in the case concerning the domain name <cosmoprof.company>.
In addition, complainants rely on the fact that they are registered outside China, they have no knowledge of Chinese and if the proceedings would be carried in Chinese, they would incur significant translation expenses and costs, causing undue burden on the complainant and result in delay of the proceedings.
Also, complainants rely on the argument that “English is the language most widely used in international relations and is the one of the working languages of the Center”.
- Other languages of the registration agreement
In other situations, the language of the registration agreement is another language, such as French, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, etc.
Arguments raised by complainants to request for the language of the proceedings to be English instead of the language of the registration agreement are similar to those cases where the language of the registration agreement is Chinese.
Complainants rely, for example, on the composition of the domain name in dispute, as in the case concerning the domain name <liquiddeath.site>, where the domain name was comprised of the English language words “liquid” and “death”, which coupled with the English language content on the website shows as per complainant “that the Respondent’s intent was to target English speaking Internet users and that it is familiar with the English language and will not be prejudiced by the Complaint being brought in English”. The website content is also an argument where the website at the domain name in dispute impersonates the complainant and contains only English words and characters, such as in the case concerning the domain names <rakutenbazaar.com> et all.
An issue that is considered is that the respondent has shown capability to understand the language in which the complaint was filed (English in the cases at hand) in their communication with the center, despite the language of the registration agreement being Portuguese, such as in the case concerning the domain name <all-tags.com>, or Turkish as in the case concerning the domain name <iqosterea-tr.com>.
Another fact was that the domain name in dispute was acquired through the “DropCatch.com service which appears to be provided only in English”, which would suggest the respondent being familiar with English language, such as in the case concerning the domain name <siderval.com>.
A general factor taken into account when deciding upon the language of the proceedings is the fact that the Center notified the parties in both languages and whether the respondent answered or not to the notice on language of the proceedings.
Other language of the proceedings where registration agreement was in English
In some other cases, the language of the registration agreement is English, but the proceedings are carried at the request of the complainant in another language, such as French or Spanish.
For example, in the case concerning the domain name <estelarbet-chile.com>, the complainant relied, inter alia, in its request for Spanish to be the language of the proceedings, on the fact that the domain name included “Chile” and that the website included content and terms in Spanish.
A similar example in the case concerning the domain name <notario.org>, where the main content of the website was in Spanish, and the phone number on the website had a prefix from Madrid. The panel in that case took into account the fact that the term “notario” was written in Spanish, the website has an object notary services in Spain and the arguments raised by the parties are closely connected to the Spanish legal system, both parties being represented by Spanish lawyers.
In another case, concerning the domain name <cic-banqueprivee.com> where the language of the registration agreement was English, the complainant argued that French should be the language of the proceedings because, inter alia, the domain name referred to the complainant which was one of the main banking groups in France and the fact that the website to which the domain name redirected was entirely in French. Similarly in the case concerning the domain name <peggysages.com>.
Another example when complainant asked for French to be the language of the proceedings was in the case concerning the domain name <g7taxi-lyon.com>, where the panel took into account the fact that the complainant, a French company, is claiming rights in trademarks registered and used in France, the respondent declared a postal address in France, the pages of the website were in French, mentioned a phone number in France and offered transportation services in Lyon.