When a domain is registered, the person registering that domain name is required to submit to mandatory arbitration in the event of a future dispute concerning the domain, including an allegation of cybersquatting. ICANN—the nonprofit organization that oversees the domain name registration system—has implemented a streamlined process for resolving cybersquatting disputes, which tends to be quicker and less expensive than federal litigation. While ICANN’s Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy does not permit cybersquatting victims to recover damages, costs, or fees, it does enable them to recover a cybersquatted domain name. A petitioner seeking to use ICANN’s Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy ("UDRP"), must demonstrate the following elements to recover a domain name:

• Ownership of a trademark;
• A domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to the trademark owned;
• The registrant has no legitimate interest or rights in the domain name, which may be demonstrated through: showing a lack of a bona fide intent to use the disputed domain to offer goods or services, and showing common knowledge of the trademark owner’s ownership of the mark; and
• The registrant’s registration and use has been conducted in bad faith, which may include evidence that: a) that the domain was acquired primarily to sell to the trademark owner, c) the domain name was acquired to disrupt business of a competitor, d) the domain name was acquired to make money through consumer confusion.

An administrative panel of one or three people selected from an international body of Internet law practitioners serves as both the judge and the jury in a UDRP proceeding. A UDRP proceeding is relatively quick: A decision is typically issued less than 45 days after the complaint is filed. Notably, a party that files a UDRP complaint and loses may bring another legal action against a cybersquatter, including an action under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.