Domain dispute fees: what a UDRP actually costs with us
A stranger holds the domain that matches your brand. They want five figures to sell it back. You have the trademark. The question is not whether you have a case – it is what the case will cost, and exactly what you are buying when you hire a domain-disputes lawyer.
Domain dispute lawyer fees for a UDRP complaint combine two separate costs: the forum filing fee (paid to WIPO, the Forum, or another provider) and the legal fee (paid to counsel). At COGNOMEN, a turnkey UDRP complaint to recover a single domain carries a legal fee of USD 2,500–4,000, plus a WIPO filing fee of USD 1,500 for a single-member panel. The total for a standard .com recovery therefore starts at roughly USD 4,000 all-in. Owning the trademark does not guarantee transfer; the panel must find all three UDRP elements met on the evidence presented.
This page separates every cost component, states what each covers, and explains the fact patterns that move the number up or down.
Why the two-cost structure matters to you
Every domain dispute has two distinct cost buckets, and confusing them is the most common budgeting mistake we see. The forum filing fee is a fixed charge set by the dispute-resolution provider; it goes directly to the institution and is published on their website. The legal fee is what you pay counsel to assess, prepare, and manage your case. They do not overlap, and neither one substitutes for the other.
At WIPO – which, together with the Forum, handles roughly 97% of all UDRP proceedings – the standard filing fee for a single domain on a single-member panel is USD 1,500. A three-member panel costs USD 4,000. Those figures come from WIPO's published schedule and are exact. What you pay COGNOMEN on top of that is the legal fee described in the sections below.
Why does this matter? Because some quotations in the market bundle both into one number without explaining the split. At COGNOMEN, fee transparency is a deliberate choice: the forum fee is line-itemed separately on every engagement, so you know where your money goes.
What does a UDRP complaint cost at COGNOMEN?
For a standard turnkey UDRP complaint – one domain, a single-member panel, a clear trademark and a recognizable bad-faith pattern – the legal fee is USD 2,500–4,000. Add the WIPO filing fee of USD 1,500, and the all-in cost starts at roughly USD 4,000 for the simplest cases and reaches roughly USD 5,500 at the top of the standard band.
That legal fee covers the full case cycle: initial assessment of all three UDRP elements under Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy, evidence assembly (trademark certificates, registration dates, screenshot record, correspondence), drafting the complaint, filing and managing the proceeding through to decision, and liaising with the registrar on implementation if a transfer order is issued.
A few matters fall outside the standard band. Multiple domains against the same registrant – a consolidated filing is permitted under the Policy where the registrant is the same holder – can be more efficient per domain but involves more preparation work. A disputed claim of fair use or a registrant with colorable legitimate interests requires deeper argument and moves the fee toward or above the top of the range. We state the applicable band after a case assessment; we do not quote before we have reviewed the facts.
All COGNOMEN fees are indicative until confirmed in writing after a case assessment. No outcome is guaranteed. The forum filing fee quoted is WIPO's published standard rate; confirm the current rate directly with the provider before filing.
Forum filing fees across every provider and zone
The filing fee you pay depends on which forum you use, how many domains are in the complaint, and whether you want a single-member or three-member panel. Here is the full picture from the published schedules.
| Forum / Zone | Single-member panel | Three-member panel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| WIPO (gTLD, .com, etc.) | USD 1,500 (1–5 domains) | USD 4,000 (1–5 domains) | USD 2,000 / USD 5,000 for 6–10 domains |
| WIPO Expedited (since March 2026) | USD 4,000 (up to 5 domains) | N/A | Decision in approximately one month; single-panelist cases only |
| The Forum (gTLD) | From USD 1,300 (1–2 domains) | Higher; see Forum schedule | About 97% of filings handled by WIPO or the Forum combined |
| Czech Arbitration Court (CAC) | From USD 500–800 | Higher; see CAC schedule | Lowest entry point of the four providers |
| ADNDRC | From USD 1,300 (1–2 domains) | Higher; see ADNDRC schedule | Primarily used for Asia-Pacific disputes |
| Nominet DRS (.uk) | GBP 750 + VAT (full decision) | GBP 3,000 + VAT (appeal) | Mediation precedes any expert decision; GBP 200 + VAT for summary/undefended cases |
| ADR.eu (.eu) | EUR 250–1,500 | Higher; see CAC/ADR.eu schedule | Filed through the Czech Arbitration Court's ADR.eu platform |
If you request a single panelist but the registrant requests a three-member panel, the parties generally split the higher three-member fee. That can add USD 1,250 to your outlay at WIPO. It is not a risk to ignore when budgeting.
For an assessment of your domain dispute and a confirmed fee, contact info@cognomenlaw.com.
What do the legal fees cover for other matter types?
A UDRP complaint is the most common engagement, but it is not the only one. The table below sets out the legal fee ranges published on our fees page for the full menu of domain-dispute services.
URS (Uniform Rapid Suspension) – used for new gTLDs where speed matters more than transfer: legal fee USD 1,200–2,000, forum fee from USD 375. The remedy is suspension for the registration term, not transfer of ownership. The evidentiary standard is higher than the UDRP, and the proceeding moves faster.
UDRP respondent defense and RDNH – if you are the registrant and a complaint has been filed against you: legal fee from USD 3,500 or hourly, depending on complexity. The complainant pays the forum fee. Where the complaint is abusive, we build the record for a Reverse Domain Name Hijacking (RDNH) finding – a reputational sanction the panel can issue against a bad-faith complainant.
Demand letter and buy-back negotiation – before a complaint is filed, a structured letter and negotiation can sometimes resolve the matter at lower total cost: from USD 1,500, plus any agreed escrow fee (the escrow provider publishes its own rate schedule). This path is fact-dependent; not every situation suits it.
Hijacked-domain recovery – where a domain was taken from you by account compromise or unauthorized transfer: from USD 2,500, covering registrar escalation, lock documentation, and transfer reversal. Court action where arbitration cannot reach is hourly, handled with local litigation counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.
Domain due diligence and transactions – pre-acquisition review of chain of title and prior dispute history: from USD 1,500. Acquisition or sale with escrow: from USD 2,000. Brand-protection monitoring retainer: USD 1,000–3,000 per month.
COGNOMEN's payment models: fixed fee for standard filings and turnkey UDRP matters; hourly for defense and court work; success fee up to roughly 25–30% on high-value names by agreement; retainer for ongoing monitoring. Every engagement is confirmed in a written assessment. No outcome is guaranteed at any fee level.
What is NOT included, and what shifts the number?
Knowing what is excluded is as important as knowing the headline figure. Several cost items fall outside the legal fee quoted above.
The forum filing fee is always separate. Registrar implementation fees – where a registrar charges for processing a transfer order – are outside our fee and are set by the registrar. Translation costs, where a complaint or supporting material must be submitted in a language other than English, are charged at cost. Expedited WIPO processing (the one-month track, available since March 2026) adds USD 4,000 to the forum fee in place of the standard USD 1,500 single-panel charge – a net increase of USD 2,500 for the speed gain.
What moves the legal fee within or above its band? Four factors are most common. First, a genuinely contested case – a registrant who files a substantive response, disputes bad-faith registration, or asserts a colorable legitimate interest – requires more argumentation than a default proceeding. Second, a large number of domains in a single consolidated filing increases drafting and evidence work even though the per-domain forum fee falls. Third, weak or incomplete trademark documentation at the outset requires remediation before filing; that takes time. Fourth, a request for a three-member panel – by you or by the registrant – changes the fee structure at the forum level and the timeline.
A ccTLD dispute (say, a .uk proceeding under the Nominet DRS or a .eu matter through ADR.eu) is priced separately from a gTLD UDRP. The procedural rules differ, the timelines differ, and the applicable legal test differs. The Nominet DRS test – "abusive registration" under an "OR" standard, distinct from the UDRP's cumulative "registered AND used in bad faith" – can affect how the record is built and what evidence matters most.
If a prior filing or response produced a bad outcome, a focused second read can find the element that was missed. Email info@cognomenlaw.com to discuss.
How COGNOMEN's pricing compares to the market
The market rate for a UDRP complaint – legal fee only, single domain – commonly runs in the USD 3,000–7,000 range, separate from the forum filing fee. That figure comes from published market data and our experience receiving handover matters from prior counsel.
COGNOMEN's range of USD 2,500–4,000 sits at the lower end of that band for standard cases. Why? Because we handle domain disputes exclusively. There is no overhead from unrelated practice groups, no associate learning on your matter, and no billing for time spent understanding a field that is all we do. That focus is the reason the number is where it is.
We also act on the respondent side. In a recent matter – a .com complaint filed against a registrant who had held the name in good faith for several years, spring 2026 – we built the legitimate-interest record, documented the registration history, and secured both a denial of transfer and an RDNH finding against the complainant. Defending a legitimate registration at the same fee level as pursuing a recovery is consistent with one principle: the quality of the work determines the outcome, not which side you are on.
In a second matter – a multi-domain cybersquatting filing covering approximately a dozen .com variants of a consumer brand, autumn 2025 – we ran a consolidated UDRP at WIPO and obtained transfer orders across all names in a single proceeding, at substantially lower per-domain cost than sequential individual complaints would have produced.
COGNOMEN's process from inquiry to decision
The process is straightforward. You contact us, we review the facts, and we give you a confirmed fee and a plain-English assessment of whether the three UDRP elements appear to be met. No retainer is required before that conversation.
- Initial assessment (no charge) – send us the domain, your trademark details, and any communication from the registrant. We assess the three UDRP elements and advise on forum choice and fee.
- Engagement and evidence assembly – once engaged, we compile the trademark record, registration timeline, bad-faith evidence, and screenshot documentation.
- Filing and commencement – we file the complaint and manage all forum correspondence. The registrant then has 20 days to respond after commencement.
- Panel appointment and decision – a standard case is normally decided within approximately two months of filing; the WIPO expedited track aims for about one month.
- Implementation – if a transfer order issues, we liaise with the registrar to ensure implementation. We confirm completion to you in writing.
COGNOMEN focuses exclusively on domain-name disputes – recovery, defense, and transactions across gTLDs and ccTLDs, before WIPO, the Forum, CAC, ADNDRC, national procedures, and in court where arbitration cannot reach. We act for brand owners, domain investors, and registrants, including on the respondent side and in RDNH matters. To discuss a domain and receive a confirmed fee, contact info@cognomenlaw.com.
Related at COGNOMEN
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is included?
The legal fee covers the full case cycle for a standard UDRP complaint: initial assessment of all three Paragraph 4(a) elements, evidence assembly (trademark record, registration timeline, screenshot documentation, bad-faith evidence), drafting and filing the complaint, managing all forum correspondence through to decision, and liaising with the registrar on transfer implementation. It does not include the forum filing fee, registrar implementation charges, translation costs, or expedited-track supplements – those are itemized separately at the outset.
What could change the number or the timeline?
Four factors commonly shift the fee within or above the stated band: a contested response from the registrant; a large number of domains in a single consolidated filing; incomplete trademark documentation requiring remediation before filing; and a three-member panel request by either party. The timeline extends if the registrant files a response (adding the 20-day response window plus panel deliberation time) or if a supplemental filing is permitted. Expedited WIPO processing – available since March 2026 for single-panel cases of up to five domains – can compress the timeline to approximately one month at a higher forum fee.
How do we start?
Send the domain name, your trademark details, and any communication you have received from the registrant to info@cognomenlaw.com. We will assess whether the three UDRP elements appear to be met, identify the appropriate forum and zone, and provide a confirmed fee in writing. There is no charge for that initial review. No retainer is required before you have the assessment in hand.
Author: Cordelia Roe — UDRP complainant practice & gTLD recovery; domain transactions and brand protection. Meet the team.
Speak with Cognomen Law
For a scoped view of your domain matter, contact info@cognomenlaw.com. Discuss your matter
This publication is general information and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on your situation, contact info@cognomenlaw.com.