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Bad Faith

Registering or using a domain to exploit a trademark, a required element to win a UDRP case.

FBFenwei BianAuthorVZVictor ZhouEditorJune 22, 2026
  • glossary

Bad faith is the third and often most contested element a complainant must prove in a UDRP proceeding: the disputed domain must have been both registered and used in bad faith (the conjunctive test under WIPO). The UDRP policy lists non-exhaustive examples that panels have treated as presumptive bad faith: offering the domain for sale to the trademark owner at a price above documented costs; registering to block a mark-holder from reflecting their brand online; registering to disrupt a competitor; or intentionally attracting users for commercial gain by creating likelihood of confusion. Panels also weigh circumstantial indicators — the registrant's awareness of the mark at the time of registration, implausible claimed use, and portfolio patterns consistent with cybersquatting. A finding of bad faith triggers a transfer or cancellation order. Conversely, if the panel finds a complainant pursued a UDRP claim it knew could not succeed, the registrant may seek a finding of reverse domain hijacking. Tokenizing a domain on a blockchain does not alter how panels evaluate bad faith; the DNS registration history and the registrant's conduct remain the operative facts.

Related keywords

  • UDRP
  • domain dispute
  • cybersquatting
  • trademark abuse
  • Bad Faith
  • what is Bad Faith
  • Bad Faith meaning
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Contributors

Fenwei Bian

Software Developer & Writer • Namefi
Author

Fenwei Bian is a software developer in her thirties who spends her working hours in pull requests and her weekends with her hands in soil or sawdust. Years of open source on GitHub taught her that names are interfaces: a good one is clear, honest about what it does, and kind to whoever has to use it next.

She gardens because it rewards patience and punishes wishful thinking, and she does woodwork because a joint either fits or it doesn't. Both habits show up in how she writes about naming — measure twice, check the source, and don't sand over a rough spot and hope no one notices.

For Namefi she writes about how domain markets actually move, the practical trade-offs of tokenizing and flipping names, and picking a domain you'll still be glad you own in twenty years.

GitHub

Victor Zhou

Founder & Standards Editor • Namefi
Editor

Victor Zhou is a technology founder and standards editor focused on digital identity and trust. He founded Namefi, edits Ethereum Improvement Proposals, and previously led smart-contract architecture work at Google Labs.

His work sits at the intersection of naming, ownership, and the systems people use to establish identity online. That perspective makes him especially interested in the way names move between personal meaning, public recognition, and digital infrastructure.

For Namefi, Victor edits and writes about domains as durable digital identity: how names become ownable onchain assets, how tokenization changes custody and trust, and what naming can learn from the systems people use to establish identity online.

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