January 30th, 2023
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO’S THE FAIREST PANELIST AT WIPO?

Last week, we reported the total number of cases at WIPO, the total number of panelists who heard those cases, broke them down into contested and uncontested and how the panelists reached decisions in each case. Today I will reveal which panelists have been most favorable to Domain Investors and other Respondents faced with a UDRP on their domains from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, as well as the year ended December 31, 2022, and the ALL TIME “fairest” panelists. I will also show which panelists have found the most complaints to be an abuse of the UDRP process and found them guilty of reverse domain name hijacking (RDNH).

Of the 2,060 total claims decided by WIPO Panelists in the last 6 months, there were 90 contested denials and 22 uncontested denials for a total of 112 for a whopping percentage of 5.4%, up from 3.96% in the first 6 months of the year. This is why legitimate domain investors have an uphill battle to convince the Panelists and the general public ( and particularly trademark holders) that they are professional business men and women who invest in domain names.

So here are the results for the last 6 months of 2022:

WIPO PANELISTS WHO HAVE DENIED THE MOST CONTESTED CLAIMS FOR THE 6 MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022

1. WARWICK ROTHNIE 8 Denied, 5 transferred, 1 RDNH
2. JOHN SWINSON 8 Denied, 3 transferred, 3 RDNH
3. MATTHEW KENNEDY 7 Denied, 6 transferred, 1 RDNH
4. ROBERT BADGELY 6 Denied, 4 transferred, 2 RDNH
5. STEVEN MAIER 5 Denied, 4 transferred, 2 RDNH
6. W. SCOTT BLACKMER 5 Denied, 5 transferred, 3 RDNH
7. NICK GARDNER 4 Denied, 3 transferred, 2 RDNH
8. ANDREW CHRISTIE 2 Denied, 1 transferred, 1 RDNH
9. CHRISTOPHER GIBSON 2 Denied, 3 transferred
10. ANDREW LOTHIAN 2 Denied, 4 transferred
11. KAYA KOKLU 2 Denied, 4 transferred
12. ASSEN ALEXIEV 2 Denied, 5 transferred, 1 RDNH

WIPO PANELISTS WHO HAVE DENIED THE MOST CONTESTED CLAIMS FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022

1. W. SCOTT BLACKMER 15 Denied, 17 transferred, 5 RDNH
2. JOHN SWINSON 14 Denied, 24, transferred, 3 RDNH
3. WARWICK ROTHNIE 14 Denied, 31 transferred, 1 RDNH
4. MATTHEW KENNEDY 11 Denied, 43, transferred, 3 RDNH
5. ANDREW LOTHIAN 10 Denied, 23 transferred
6. ASSEN ALEXIEV 8 Denied, 29 transferred, 2 RDNH
7. ROBERT BADGELY 8 Denied, 34 transferred, 2 RDNH
8. ADAM TAYLOR 6 Denied, 27 transferred, 2 RDNH
9. LAWRENCE NODINE 5 Denied, 2 transferred, 1 RDNH
10. STEVEN MAIER 5 Denied, 4 transferred, 2 RDNH
11. GEORGE NAHITCHEVANSKY 5 Denied, 15 transferred, 1 RDNH
12. JEFFREY NEUMAN 4 Denied
13. NICK GARDNER 4 Denied, 7 transferred, 2 RDNH
14. CHRISTOPHER GIBSON 4 Denied, 7 transferred
15. KAYA KOKLU 4 Denied, 34 transferred

WIPO PANELISTS WITH THE MOST ALL TIME CONTESTED DENIALS

1. HON. NEIL BROWN 151
2. JOHN SWINSON 138
3. ROBERT BADGELY 131
4. WARWICK ROTHNIE 125
5. W. SCOTT BLACKMER 105
6. ANDREW LOTHIAN 99
7. TONY WILLOUGHBY 95
8. LUCA BARBERO 89
9. NICK GARDNER 81
10. RICHARD LYON 78

So what does this all mean? Are panelists becoming more fair in their decisions? 7 of the top 12 panelists in the last 6 months had more Denials than transfers. That number is higher than ever before. All but 3 of the top 12 for the last 6 months and all but 4 of the top 15 panelists for the year of 2022, had at least 1 RDNH finding and some had more than 1.

I publish these statistics semi-annually so that those domain investors who are faced with contestable UDRP cases, will know where the panelists stand and “who is the fairest of them all”.