Domain monitoring and backorder

The word "monitoring" covers two different tasks: watching for domains that resemble your trademark and acting while the harm is small — or waiting for a taken name to be released and registering it first. We do both, but they are separate services, and they are described separately below.

What people come to us with

• someone registered a domain with your mark, and you learned of it from clients
• you are entering a new market and want to see what is happening to your name in the domain zones
• you have several marks and zones, and watching everything by hand does not work
• the name you need is taken, its registration is about to expire, and the owner does not reply
• your former domain was not renewed, and you want it back as soon as it is released

How we work

1. Defining the task. We clarify the mark or the domain, the zones and the timeframe. We tell you which of the two services you need and how realistic the result is.
2. Set-up. For a mark we draw up the list of spelling variants to search for. For a backorder we check the domain's status and its expiry date.
3. Watching. We check the zones on a schedule and follow the domain's statuses until it is released.
4. Action. A patent attorney assesses each domain found and proposes a plan. A released domain is submitted for registration at once.
5. Report. On trademark monitoring we report monthly; on the result of a backorder, as soon as it is known. Everything by e-mail.

Monitoring a mark in the domain zones

We check four groups of domains: identical to your mark, confusingly similar, transliterated (in Latin and Cyrillic script) and with common typing errors (typo domains). The zones are .ua, com.ua and the other .UA zones, plus the gTLDs you choose: .com, .net, .shop or others.

Every month you receive a report with a patent attorney's opinion: what has appeared, whether it infringes your rights and what to do about it. What happens next is up to you: a demand letter to the registrant and, if that does not work, a UA-DRP complaint for .UA domains or a UDRP complaint for gTLDs. These procedures are described on the trademark protection in domains page.

Monitoring new trademark applications in the registers is a different service; here we watch domains only.

Domain backorder

A domain is not released on the day its registration expires. First the owner can still renew it — in the gTLDs the registrar holds the name for up to 45 days after expiry and may put it up for its own auction in that time, from which it never reaches general availability. If the registrar deletes the domain, the 30-day redemption period follows, and only after the pending delete status does the name return to general availability. We tell you about a registrar auction separately: sometimes it is the only way to the name. We follow every status and submit the registration request the moment the domain is released.

We report the result by e-mail: both a successful backorder and the owner renewing the domain. The registration itself is paid separately, at the zone's rate. If the name is never released, we move the monitoring to another name.

For a second-level .UA domain the registrant needs a trademark in force whose word element matches the domain's spelling. Without such a mark a name in the .UA zone cannot be backordered — we say so at the first step.

What matters

Nobody can guarantee a backorder: several services compete for sought-after domains at the same time, and the result depends on the rules of the particular zone. We tell you honestly in advance how realistic your chances are for this particular name.

Monitoring is no substitute for registration: if a domain matters to you, register it now — it is cheaper than any dispute.

If a domain repeats your mark, you do not have to wait for it to be released: its transfer can be demanded under UA-DRP or UDRP. The WIPO Center fee in such a dispute is paid separately — we name the amount before we start.

We do not negotiate a buyout with the domain owner as part of this service. If what you need is a buyout, say so in the request — we will discuss it separately.

Give the mark or the domain and the zones in a request — we will tell you which of the two services you need and how realistic the result is.