July 13th, 2022
6 MONTH COMPREHENSIVE WIPO REVIEW

As I mentioned in last week’s review of the FORUM Panelists (http:”neusnews.com/2022/07/6-month-comprehensive-forum-review/), there are a number of UDRP Providers, WIPO being the largest and most used. I have, for a number of years, posted semi-annually, the names of the panelists at WIPO who have been the most favorable to Domain Investors and Registrants. However, for the first time, I have reviewed ALL CASES including the defaults to determine how the Panelists have decided to either transfer the domain or deny the Complaint.

While the FORUM decided 1,045 uncontested cases and 75 contested cases in the last 6 months for a total of 1,120 cases, WIPO decided 1,974 uncontested cases and 198 contested cases in the last 6 months for a total of 2,172 cases. Of the Default cases, 1,960 [99%] were transferred and 12 were denied with one RDNH issued by Panelist W. Scott Blackmer and one RDNH issued by Panelist Assen Alexiev.  Of the contested cases, 124 [63%] were transferred, 74 [37%] denied with RDNH decisions issued by Panelists Matthew Kennedy [2], W. Scott Blackmer, Torsten Bettinger, Brian Winterfeldt, Alfred Meijboom, Richard Lyon, Lawrence Nodine, Antony Gold, Emanuelle Ragot and Luca Barbero.

While the FORUM used only 31 different panelists on its uncontested cases, WIPO used a whopping 269 Panelists with the following results:

1. MATTHEW LILLIEENGREN – 34 Transfers, 1 Denial
2. STEVEN MAIER – 32 Decisions
3. SEBASTIAN HUGHES – 29 Decisions
4. MARINA PERRAKI – 29 Decisions
5. WILSON JABUR – 27 Transfers, 1 Denial
6. KAYA KOKLU – 28 Decisions
7. NICHOLAS SMITH – 27 Decisions
8. EDOARDO FANO – 26 Decisions
9. MATTHEW KENNEDY – 25 Decisions
10. ROBERT BADGELY – 25 Decisions
11. NICK GARDNER – 24 Decisions
12. YIJUN TIAN – 24 Decisions
13. JOHN SWINSON – 19 Transfers, 5 Denials
14. INGRIDA KARINA-BERZINA – 23 Transfers, 1 Denial
15. ASSEN ALEXIEV – 22 Transfers, 2 Denials

While the FORUM used 45 Panelists in its Contested Cases, WIPO more than doubled that number with 93 different Panelists with the following results:

1. MATTHEW KENNEDY – 12 Transfers, 4 Denials, 2 RDNH
2. ANDREW LOTHIAN – 6 Transfers, 8 Denials
3. WARWICK ROTHNIE – 8 Transfers, 5 Denials
4. W. SCOTT BLACKMER – 2 Transfers, 9 Denials, 1 RDNH
5. EDOARDO FANO – 7 Transfers, 2 Denials
6. ADAM TAYLOR – 6 Transfers, 2 Denials
7. ROBERT BADGELY – 5 Transfers, 2 Denials
8. ASSEN ALEXIEV – 3 Transfers, 4 Denials
9. CHRISTOPHER GIBSON – 4 Transfers, 2 Denials
10. ANTONY GOLD – 4 Transfers, 2 Denials, 1 RDNH
11. REYES ESTEBERANZ – 3 Transfers, 2 Denials

In PART II of this article, I will rank the Panelists who have had the most Denials in the past 6 months, 12 months and all time.

Howard Neu, Esq.
Howard @Neulaw.com