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

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

A buyer wires funds, the seller pushes a Nominet transfer, and three months later a brand owner files a DRS complaint against the new registrant. That scenario – preventable with the right pre-acquisition checks – has become more common as .uk secondary-market activity rises. Recent practice developments in Nominet's Dispute Resolution Service are sharpening the due-diligence questions any buyer should ask before funds leave escrow.

When you structure escrow for a .uk domain purchase, the transaction carries a distinct risk profile compared with .com. The Nominet DRS allows a complainant to pursue a domain against whoever holds it at the time of filing – meaning a buyer who inherited a tainted registration history can face a DRS complaint even if they acquired the name in good faith. Pre-acquisition due diligence on prior dispute history, chain of title, and known trademark conflicts is therefore a structural requirement, not an optional step.

This alert covers what has shifted in DRS practice, who is affected, and the practical steps to take now.

What Has Changed in Nominet DRS Practice?

The Nominet DRS test asks whether a registration is "abusive" – defined as taking unfair advantage of, or being unfairly detrimental to, a complainant's rights in a name. A critical feature is that the DRS reads "registered or used" abusively, a materially lower threshold than the UDRP's cumulative "registered and used in bad faith." A domain with a clean-looking current use can still face a DRS complaint if its registration history carries the taint of an earlier abusive act.

DRS panels have become more attentive to transfer events in a domain's chain of title. Where a domain changed hands close in time to a trademark owner's market entry, panels are increasingly willing to examine whether the transfer itself was a mechanism to obscure an abusive registration. Buyers who complete transactions without scrutinizing that history inherit the risk. The volume of .uk DRS filings has remained significant; Nominet's published data shows approximately 45% of decided .uk cases resulting in a transfer order, which underscores the real exposure any new registrant carries.

Who Is Affected?

Any party currently negotiating, or about to negotiate, a secondary-market acquisition of a .uk domain should treat this alert as directly relevant. The exposure is highest where the domain string is dictionary-adjacent to a brand – a generic word that a trademark owner could credibly characterize as confusingly similar to a registered or unregistered mark. Investors holding portfolios of .uk names should equally audit existing holdings for prior DRS history before those names are monetized or relisted for sale.

The risk is not theoretical. In a recent matter (a .co.uk acquisition, autumn 2025), we identified a prior Nominet complaint in a target domain's history that the seller had not disclosed. The transaction was restructured so that escrow release was conditioned on the seller's warranty of no outstanding rights-holder challenges and on production of the complete RDDS transfer record. The buyer did not proceed to completion until the chain of title was clean. That restructuring took roughly ten days and avoided what could have become a costly DRS defense after closing.

For a read on whether the three DRS elements present a live risk for a .uk domain you are considering acquiring, reach us at info@cognomenlaw.com.

What Should Buyers Do Now?

The practical response has three components: a chain-of-title check, a prior-dispute search, and a correctly structured escrow.

Chain-of-title check. Nominet's RDDS (Registration Data Directory Service) records the current registrant and registration date. It does not automatically surface every past holder. A thorough check uses archived WHOIS data, Nominet's own historical records where accessible, and, where appropriate, a direct inquiry to the seller about prior registrant periods. Any transfer that occurred within two to three years of the transaction date warrants scrutiny.

Prior-dispute search. Nominet publishes its DRS decisions. A search against the domain string and against known associated registrants should be standard. A prior DRS filing – even one that was withdrawn or resolved by mediation – signals that at least one rights holder has already identified the name as a potential conflict. That signal should price into the transaction or trigger a withdrawal.

Escrow structure. For a .uk acquisition, escrow should not release on Nominet transfer confirmation alone. Conditions precedent to fund release should include: seller representation that no DRS complaint is pending or threatened; production of a complete chain-of-title record; and a hold-back period – typically 30 to 60 days – sized to allow any immediately foreseeable DRS filing to surface before the buyer carries the full purchase price risk. Legal title under Nominet passes on registrar transfer; the economic risk of a subsequent DRS order passes with it unless the escrow is structured to address that gap.

One further point on cross-zone acquisitions: where a transaction covers both a .uk and a .com – common in brand acquisitions – the two closings require different procedural steps. The .com transfer operates through the ICANN registrar system; the .uk operates through Nominet. Aligning the two transfers under a single escrow instruction requires explicit mechanics, because Nominet's authorization codes and the gTLD transfer process do not run on the same timeline. We regularly advise buyers working through exactly that coordination problem.

If a prior filing or an adverse DRS history has emerged in a domain you are assessing, email info@cognomenlaw.com for a focused review before contracts are exchanged.

Related at COGNOMEN

• Domain transactions, escrow, and brand-protection advisory across gTLDs and ccTLDs
• Chain-of-title verification and pre-acquisition due diligence for domain purchases
• Respondent-side UDRP defense and RDNH strategy for domain investors