Austria: Supreme Court rules on WIPO procedure costs

For the first time, the Austrian Supreme Court has ruled on the issue of whether the costs of a UDRP procedure for a domain name dispute can be claimed as damages from the defeated party (Supreme Court decision of March 16 2004, 4 Ob 42/04m, delikomat.com).
The Supreme Court held that costs incurred during such a procedure are a result of the unlawful, bad-faith registration of a domain name. Thus, a defendant who is guilty of so-called 'domain grabbing' must reimburse the plaintiff for costs incurred, to such an amount that they are reasonable/expedient.
[International Law Office]