January 19th, 2021
OUR BIGGER AND BETTER ANNUAL UDRP REVIEW – PART 2 – FORUM

This is Part 2 of our Annual UDRP Review; Panelists provided by the FORUM.  Like WIPO, 87% of the cases decided by Panels in the past 6 months from July 1, 2020, to December 32, 2020, were by default.  There were a total of 894 case decisions rendered, of which 777 received no Response.  Of the 117 cases that were contested, 52 were Denied with 65 transferred to the Complainant.  Thus, 44% of the contested cases, (only 35% at WIPO) and 6% of the total cases were denied.  58 Panelists were utilized by the FORUM and there were 12 3-Person Panels. Of those 12 panels, 9 resulted in Denials with 3 transfers. Additionally, there were 5 RDNH Decisions.  It would therefore appear that legitimate domain investors have a better shot at retaining their domains at the FORUM than at WIPO, provided that they respond to the Complaint.

Our analysis consists of 3 lists that we have compiled for your use. The first list is the TOP Panelists for the past 6 months. The second list is the TOP Panelists for the year 2020. The third list is the TOP ALL TIME PANELISTS at the FORUM.  We are now also noting whether the favorable decisions were as solo panelist or part of a 3-person panel, as well as the number of transfers that each Panelist decided.

THE TOP PANELISTS FOR THE LAST 6 MONTHS OF 2020

                                                                SOLO   3 PP   RDNH  TRANSFER

1. STEVEN LEVY                                   4          2           2                3
2. DEBRETT LYONS                             5          0           0               3
3. ALAN LIMBURY                               4          0           1                1
4. DAVID SORKIN                                1           2           1                1
5. TERRY PEPPARD                            2           1           0                3
6. NICHOLAS SMITH                         3           0          0                2
7. SANDRA FRANKLIN                      1           2          0                4
8. HO HYUN NAHM                           3           0          0                1
9. DARRYL WILSON                          1            2          0                3
10. GERALD LEVINE                           1            2          0                0
11. HON. NEIL BROWN                      1            1          0                2

THE TOP PANELISTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 12/31/2020  

                                                      DECISIONS               RDNH

1. STEVEN LEVY                         10                             2        
2. DEBRETT LYONS                     9
3. ALAN LIMBURY                       8                              1
4. GERALD LEVINE                     6
5. HON. NEIL BROWN                5
6. HO HYUN NAHM                    5
7. DAVID BERNSTEIN               4
8. DAVID EINHORN                   4
9. MICHAEL ALBERT                 4
10. TERRY PEPPARD                   4
11. NICHOLAS SMITH                 4

TOP ALL-TIME FORUM PANELISTS

    2020                                               2019

1. DEBRETT LYONS -122           1
2. HON. NEIL BROWN – 98      2
3. DAVID SORKIN – 63              3
4. JAMES CARMODY – 54        4
5. DARRYL WILSON – 52         6
6. KARL FINK – 51                      5
7. SANDRA FRANKLIN – 51    7
8. MICHAEL ALBERT – 41      8
9. TERRY PEPPARD – 40        9
10. ALAN LIMBURY – 39          –
11. PAUL DECICCO – 33           10
12. DIANE CABELL – 33           10

I hope that this information will assist you when faced with a UDRP.  Keep in mind, that every case stands on its own, but previous decisions as well as inclinations of the individual panelists certainly play a part in getting a good decision (or a bad one).