Opinion: Should laches be a defence in UDRP proceedings?
12 July 2010
The Hon Neil Brown QC argues that it is time to examine allowing a laches defence, among others, in the UDRP to make sure the result is always just
It is frequently said that laches is not a defence to complaints brought under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Accordingly, a trade mark owner, seeking to wrest the ownership of a domain name from a party who has registered it, will not lose the case simply because it delayed bringing the claim, even for a long period of time.
Indeed, even those who seek to mount part of their defence against the trade mark owner’s case on the ground that the delay has caused them prejudice, will usually concede that laches itself is not a defence.
The preponderance of opinion in the text books and in decided cases has also been that laches is not a defence; just as other equitable defences like forfeiture, waiver or unjust enrichment are not defences.
Indeed, this point of view has been expressed regularly since the inception of the UDRP,...
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