The Internet Commerce Association is deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague, Paul Raynor Keating, as first reported today by Ron Jackson of DNJournal. We encourage readers to visit DNJournal’s tribute, which recounts Paul’s remarkable path into domain name law and the affection he inspired throughout the industry.
Paul was one of the first lawyers in the world to devote his practice to domain name matters. A California-licensed attorney in practice since 1983, he built an international practice through Law.es from his base in Barcelona, representing domain name registrants, investors, registrars, and related service providers around the world. He was profiled in a 2013 DNJournal cover story, “Have Gavel Will Travel”, and was described by fellow IP counsel as the leading English-speaking domain name litigator in Europe. It was in the UDRP arena, however, that Paul made his most lasting contribution.
Over more than two decades, Paul appeared as counsel in countless UDRP proceedings, and his advocacy left an enduring mark on the jurisprudence. Running through all of it was a single conviction – that the UDRP was designed to address clear cases of cybersquatting, and must not be allowed to become a substitute for litigation or a shortcut to acquiring valuable domain names. He successfully defended registrants in high-profile disputes involving valuable generic-word domain names. In Kaleidoscope Imaging, Inc. v. V Entertainment (Forum Claim No. FA0310000203207), an early landmark from 2004, Paul persuaded a three-member panel that “kaleidoscope” is a generic English word available for registration on a first-come, first-served basis, and that his client’s years of revenue-generating use of Kaleidoscope.com as a search resource was a bona fide offering defeating any claim of bad faith. In Oasis Technology Partners, Inc. v. James Dale (Forum Claim No. FA1003001310642), the panel denied the complaint against Oasis.com outright, holding that the complainant’s bald assertions of common law rights in a highly generic term were no substitute for evidence. His most enduring victory came in The Gourmet Depot v. DI S.A. (Forum Claim No. FA1378760), where a three-member panel denied the complaint and the domain name remained with his client – a decision since cited by later panels well over a hundred times as the standard authority on the evidence required to establish secondary meaning and common law trademark rights under the Policy, making it one of the most influential respondent-side decisions in the Forum’s UDRP jurisprudence. And in a result that made headlines, he secured his client’s win in the Taget.com case against Target Brands.
Beyond his advocacy, Paul was also an influential commentator. His critiques of decisions such as Ceat.com (published at DomainInvesting.com) and AutoOwnersInsurance.com (published at TheDomains.com) were unsparing, principled examinations of due process within the UDRP – insisting that panels adhere to the Policy as written, that supplemental filings not be abused, and that registrants receive a fair hearing. He wrote with wit and precision, animated by the same conviction that ran through his courtroom work. His articles were widely read within the domain name community and helped shape its ongoing discussion of due process, fairness, and the faithful application of the Policy. For many years, Paul was among the counsel the ICA pointed registrants to when they faced a UDRP complaint. Paul was beloved by numerous ICA members, many of whom relied upon him over the years for legal advice and representation and counted him not only as trusted counsel but as a friend. Paul’s final professional contribution was among his most significant. He served as a member of the Project Team of the WIPO-ICA UDRP Review, the collaborative initiative between the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center and the ICA that culminated in the Final Report delivered to the ICANN community in December 2025. Paul participated as party counsel alongside the world’s leading UDRP experts, and he did so while privately facing serious health challenges. As ICA General Counsel Zak Muscovitch reflected, having Paul participate in the Review was a great honor – his decades of hard-won experience defending registrants informed the project’s work, and his presence lent it a credibility and depth that few others could provide. That, even then, Paul chose to devote his time and intellect to improving the UDRP for the generations of practitioners who will follow him speaks to the measure of the man.
The domain name community has lost one of its pioneers and one of its most steadfast defenders. Yet Paul’s influence will endure – in the jurisprudence he helped shape, in the Policy he worked to preserve, and in the many practitioners who learned from his advocacy and scholarship. The ICA extends its heartfelt condolences to Paul’s family and his many friends and colleagues around the world.
Rest in peace, Paul.
Photo Credit: DNJournal