Update: changes affecting how to structure escrow for a .info domain…

Update: changes affecting how to structure escrow for a .info domain. UDRP and ccTLD domain recovery and defense across .info. Email the firm to assess your ca…

A buyer agrees a price on a .info domain, wires the funds, and then discovers the name carries a prior UDRP decision against the previous holder. The transfer has already completed. The domain is now exposed. That scenario is not hypothetical – and recent shifts in how registry and registrar-level holds interact with escrow timing make it more likely in 2026 than it was two years ago.

To structure escrow for a .info domain purchase, a buyer must sequence three steps before funds are released: confirm that no open UDRP proceeding or pending dispute lock exists on the name, verify the full chain of title for taint from a prior bad-faith registration, and hold funds in escrow until a clean registrar transfer – not merely an agreement – is confirmed. The .info zone is a gTLD administered under ICANN-accredited registrars and subject to UDRP; any active or recently decided case can survive a change of ownership if the timing is wrong.

This alert sets out what has changed, who is affected, and the steps that protect buyers now.

What Changed in .info Escrow and Transfer Practice

The core shift involves the interaction between registrar-held transfer locks and the timing window for UDRP commencement. A UDRP complaint can be filed against a new registrant if the underlying bad faith is attributed to a prior holder and the acquiring party took the domain with knowledge of the dispute – or in some panel readings, with constructive knowledge drawn from publicly searchable decision databases. That interpretive thread has gained ground in recent proceedings involving .info names that changed hands during or shortly after a prior dispute.

Separately, some registrars have updated their internal lock and hold policies in ways that can delay a clean transfer even after escrow funds are released. A domain may show as "transferred" in WHOIS/RDDS while still carrying a registrar-side flag that prevents outbound transfer to a third-party registrar for a further period. Buyers who release escrowed funds at the WHOIS change – rather than at confirmed clean registrar custody with no active flags – have found themselves holding a functionally encumbered asset.

For an assessment of a proposed .info acquisition, contact info@cognomenlaw.com.

Who Is Affected by These Changes?

Any party acquiring a .info domain in a private-treaty transaction, through a broker, or at a domain auction is potentially affected. The risk is sharpest in three situations: where the domain was previously parked or monetized through pay-per-click advertising; where the prior registrant held multiple domains in the same trademark class; and where the domain has changed hands more than once in the past three years. Each of those patterns is a recognized bad-faith indicator under Paragraph 4(b) of the UDRP, and a new registrant who did not conduct pre-acquisition due diligence cannot always assert clean-hands status in a subsequent complaint.

Investors buying .info names at volume are also affected. A portfolio approach that routes acquisitions through automated bidding without a prior-dispute screen is now a material risk vector, not merely an administrative gap.

What to Do Now: Structuring the Escrow Correctly

The correct escrow structure for a .info domain purchase has three sequenced components.

First, pre-agreement due diligence. Before executing a purchase agreement, run a full prior-dispute check: search WIPO's publicly available decision database and the Forum's equivalent for any case involving the domain or the prior registrant. Check whether any registrar-placed hold or UDRP-lock code is currently active in the domain's status flags. A domain showing a "clientHold" or "serverHold" status in RDDS is an immediate red flag requiring explanation before any funds move.

Second, escrow conditions tied to clean transfer. The escrow release condition should not be "transfer of registration" but "transfer of registration to buyer's nominated registrar with no active dispute lock, no hold status, and no pending UDRP proceeding filed in the 20-day period following listing." That 20-day reference tracks the UDRP response window – a complaint filed the day before transfer completes remains live against the name regardless of ownership change in most panel readings.

Third, a post-transfer monitoring period. Even a clean transfer can be followed by a UDRP complaint from a trademark owner who had been monitoring the name. A short monitoring window – typically 30 to 60 days post-transfer – with RDDS checks and alert-service coverage is a low-cost hedge against being caught without a defense brief ready.

We regularly advise buyers who discover a prior dispute history only after completing a .info acquisition. The options narrow considerably once the transfer is done and a new complaint has commenced. Acting at the due-diligence stage, before escrow closes, is where the risk is manageable.

Related at COGNOMEN

• Domain transactions, escrow, and pre-acquisition due diligence for brand owners and investors
• How to verify chain of title and prior dispute history before acquiring a domain
• URS suspension and new gTLD launch protection for rights holders