From 7th July 2026, the administrative and backend processes behind Nominet’s Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) will transfer to the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Arbitration and Mediation Centre (WIPO). The service itself remains unchanged with the same expert panellists working to the existing DRS Policy, Nominet staff facilitated mediation, and the same fee schedule.
Since launching in 2001, Nominet’s well-established DRS has been a fast and cost-effective route for resolving .UK domain disputes efficiently and fairly, without going to court. Last year, the DRS was estimated to have saved around £10m in unnecessary legal costs.
Last year, the Nominet DRS handled more than 600 disputes and has now handled over 16,000 disputes since it began in 2001.
The move to WIPO in July 2026 means all the administrative processes behind the operation of the DRS are moving away from Nominet to a third-party specialist provider. The decision was taken as several key internal systems are being retired in 2027 as part of the wider .UK Registry Standardisation programme.
WIPO is an established global provider of domain dispute resolution services, with a significant track record since 1999 – working with 85+ ccTLDs, each with their unique requirements. They were able to offer an efficient solution to ensure DRS complaints will be correctly administered in line with the existing DRS Policy, with Nominet staff continuing to provide independent mediation before handing over to Nominet’s independent adjudicators for their decision.
Nominet’s Independent Panel of Experts, chaired by Nick Gardner remains unchanged. This group consists of solicitors, barristers and IP consultants with significant expertise. They will continue to make independent binding decisions based on Nominet’s policies.
From 7th July 2026 – .UK DRS submissions will be made via WIPO’s website, and all newly filed cases will be administered by WIPO. Any cases filed before 7th July 2026 will stay with Nominet to complete. The full searchable archive of historic DRS decisions will remain online.
Additional guidance and FAQs on the DRS transfer will be published in due course.
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