ICANN Appoints The National Arbitration Forum As The First URS Provider

The National Arbitration Forum has secured the first appointment by ICANN to administer the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS). FORUM submitted an outstanding proposal demonstrating how it would meet all requirements presented in the RFI [PDF, 112 KB] and detailing its implementation approach. The company has a proven track record boasting resolution of over 19,000 claims in 12+ years of administering UDRP cases. Additionally, FORUM has already developed, and is currently operating a TLD-specific rapid relief system.

ICANN would like to thank everyone who responded to the RFI. The National Arbitration Forum will be one of multiple providers appointed to administer URS services. The process will be similar to that of appointing UDRP providers in which consideration is given to achieving competitive provisioning and geographical spread of providers.

URS is a rights protection mechanism for new gTLDs that facilitates rapid suspension of domain names in clear-cut cases of trademark infringement. It is intended to complement the existing Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) by offering a lower-cost, faster path to resolution. The Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) will provide rapid relief to trademark holders for the most clear-cut cases of infringement and offer cheaper, faster responses than the existing Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, or UDRP. The URS filing fee, expected to be in the range of USD 300-500, would be set by the URS provider, and a successful URS complaint would result in suspension rather than transfer of the infringing domain.

Learn more about Uniform Rapid Suspension