Uniform
Domain Name
Dispute Resolution Policy
(As Approved by ICANN on October 24,
1999)
1. Purpose.
This Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Policy")
has been adopted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
("ICANN"), is incorporated by reference into your Registration
Agreement, and sets forth the terms and conditions in connection with a
dispute between you and any party other than us (the registrar) over the
registration and use of an Internet domain name registered by you. Proceedings
under Paragraph 4 of this Policy will be conducted according
to the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the
"Rules of Procedure"), which are available at www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-rules-24oct99.htm,
and the selected administrative-dispute-resolution service provider's
supplemental rules.
2. Your
Representations. By
applying to register a domain name, or by asking us to maintain or renew a
domain name registration, you hereby represent and warrant to us that (a) the
statements that you made in your Registration Agreement are complete and
accurate; (b) to your knowledge, the registration of the domain name will not
infringe upon or otherwise violate the rights of any third party; (c) you are
not registering the domain name for an unlawful purpose; and (d) you will not
knowingly use the domain name in violation of any applicable laws or
regulations. It is your responsibility to determine whether your domain name
registration infringes or violates someone else's rights.
3. Cancellations,
Transfers, and Changes.
We will cancel, transfer or otherwise make changes to domain name
registrations under the following circumstances:
a. subject to the
provisions of Paragraph 8, our receipt of written or
appropriate electronic instructions from you or your authorized agent to
take such action;
b. our receipt of
an order from a court or arbitral tribunal, in each case of competent
jurisdiction, requiring such action; and/or
c. our receipt of
a decision of an Administrative Panel requiring such action in any
administrative proceeding to which you were a party and which was conducted
under this Policy or a later version of this Policy adopted by ICANN. (See Paragraph
4(i) and (k) below.)
We may also
cancel, transfer or otherwise make changes to a domain name registration in
accordance with the terms of your Registration Agreement or other legal
requirements.
4. Mandatory
Administrative Proceeding.
This Paragraph sets forth the type
of disputes for which you are required to submit to a mandatory administrative
proceeding. These proceedings will be conducted before one of the
administrative-dispute-resolution service providers listed at www.icann.org/udrp/approved-providers.htm
(each, a "Provider").
a. Applicable
Disputes. You are required
to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding in the event that a third
party (a "complainant") asserts to the applicable Provider, in
compliance with the Rules of Procedure, that
(i) your
domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service
mark in which the complainant has rights; and
(ii) you have
no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
(iii) your
domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
In the
administrative proceeding, the complainant must prove that each of these
three elements are present.
b. Evidence of
Registration and Use in Bad Faith.
For the purposes of Paragraph 4(a)(iii), the following
circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel
to be present, shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain
name in bad faith:
(i)
circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the
domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise
transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the
owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that
complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented
out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or
(ii) you have
registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark
or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name,
provided that you have engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
(iii) you
have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting
the business of a competitor; or
(iv) by using
the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for
commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line
location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's
mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your
web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or
location.
c. How to
Demonstrate Your Rights to and Legitimate Interests in the Domain Name in
Responding to a Complaint.
When you receive a complaint, you should refer to Paragraph
5 of the Rules of Procedure in determining how your response should be
prepared. Any of the following circumstances, in particular but without
limitation, if found by the Panel to be proved based on its evaluation of
all evidence presented, shall demonstrate your rights or legitimate
interests to the domain name for purposes of Paragraph
4(a)(ii):
(i) before any
notice to you of the dispute, your use of, or demonstrable preparations to
use, the domain name or a name corresponding to the domain name in
connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services; or
(ii) you (as
an individual, business, or other organization) have been commonly known
by the domain name, even if you have acquired no trademark or service mark
rights; or
(iii) you
are making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name,
without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert consumers or to
tarnish the trademark or service mark at issue.
d. Selection
of Provider. The
complainant shall select the Provider from among those approved by ICANN by
submitting the complaint to that Provider. The selected Provider will
administer the proceeding, except in cases of consolidation as described in Paragraph
4(f).
e. Initiation
of Proceeding and Process and Appointment of Administrative Panel.
The Rules of Procedure state the process for initiating and conducting a
proceeding and for appointing the panel that will decide the dispute (the
"Administrative Panel").
f.
Consolidation. In the
event of multiple disputes between you and a complainant, either you or the
complainant may petition to consolidate the disputes before a single
Administrative Panel. This petition shall be made to the first
Administrative Panel appointed to hear a pending dispute between the
parties. This Administrative Panel may consolidate before it any or all such
disputes in its sole discretion, provided that the disputes being
consolidated are governed by this Policy or a later version of this Policy
adopted by ICANN.
g. Fees.
All fees charged by a Provider in connection with any dispute before an
Administrative Panel pursuant to this Policy shall be paid by the
complainant, except in cases where you elect to expand the Administrative
Panel from one to three panelists as provided in Paragraph
5(b)(iv) of the Rules of Procedure, in which case all fees will be split
evenly by you and the complainant.
h. Our
Involvement in Administrative Proceedings.
We do not, and will not, participate in the administration or conduct of any
proceeding before an Administrative Panel. In addition, we will not be
liable as a result of any decisions rendered by the Administrative Panel.
i. Remedies.
The remedies available to a complainant pursuant to any proceeding before an
Administrative Panel shall be limited to requiring the cancellation of your
domain name or the transfer of your domain name registration to the
complainant.
j.
Notification and Publication.
The Provider shall notify us of any decision made by an Administrative Panel
with respect to a domain name you have registered with us. All decisions
under this Policy will be published in full over the Internet, except when
an Administrative Panel determines in an exceptional case to redact portions
of its decision.
k.
Availability of Court Proceedings.
The mandatory administrative proceeding requirements set forth in Paragraph
4 shall not prevent either you or the complainant from submitting the
dispute to a court of competent jurisdiction for independent resolution
before such mandatory administrative proceeding is commenced or after such
proceeding is concluded. If an Administrative Panel decides that your domain
name registration should be canceled or transferred, we will wait ten (10)
business days (as observed in the location of our principal office) after we
are informed by the applicable Provider of the Administrative Panel's
decision before implementing that decision. We will then implement the
decision unless we have received from you during that ten (10) business day
period official documentation (such as a copy of a complaint, file-stamped
by the clerk of the court) that you have commenced a lawsuit against the
complainant in a jurisdiction to which the complainant has submitted under Paragraph
3(b)(xiii) of the Rules of Procedure. (In general, that jurisdiction is
either the location of our principal office or of your address as shown in
our Whois database. See Paragraphs
1 and 3(b)(xiii)
of the Rules of Procedure for details.) If we receive such documentation
within the ten (10) business day period, we will not implement the
Administrative Panel's decision, and we will take no further action, until
we receive (i) evidence satisfactory to us of a resolution between the
parties; (ii) evidence satisfactory to us that your lawsuit has been
dismissed or withdrawn; or (iii) a copy of an order from such court
dismissing your lawsuit or ordering that you do not have the right to
continue to use your domain name.
5. All Other
Disputes and Litigation.
All other disputes between you and any party other than us regarding your
domain name registration that are not brought pursuant to the mandatory
administrative proceeding provisions of Paragraph 4 shall be
resolved between you and such other party through any court, arbitration or
other proceeding that may be available.
6. Our
Involvement in Disputes.
We will not participate in any way in any dispute between you and any party
other than us regarding the registration and use of your domain name. You
shall not name us as a party or otherwise include us in any such proceeding.
In the event that we are named as a party in any such proceeding, we reserve
the right to raise any and all defenses deemed appropriate, and to take any
other action necessary to defend ourselves.
7. Maintaining
the Status Quo. We will
not cancel, transfer, activate, deactivate, or otherwise change the status of
any domain name registration under this Policy except as provided in Paragraph
3 above.
8. Transfers
During a Dispute.
a. Transfers
of a Domain Name to a New Holder.
You may not transfer your domain name registration to another holder (i)
during a pending administrative proceeding brought pursuant to Paragraph
4 or for a period of fifteen (15) business days (as observed in the
location of our principal place of business) after such proceeding is
concluded; or (ii) during a pending court proceeding or arbitration
commenced regarding your domain name unless the party to whom the domain
name registration is being transferred agrees, in writing, to be bound by
the decision of the court or arbitrator. We reserve the right to cancel any
transfer of a domain name registration to another holder that is made in
violation of this subparagraph.
b. Changing
Registrars. You may not
transfer your domain name registration to another registrar during a pending
administrative proceeding brought pursuant to Paragraph 4
or for a period of fifteen (15) business days (as observed in the location
of our principal place of business) after such proceeding is concluded. You
may transfer administration of your domain name registration to another
registrar during a pending court action or arbitration, provided that the
domain name you have registered with us shall continue to be subject to the
proceedings commenced against you in accordance with the terms of this
Policy. In the event that you transfer a domain name registration to us
during the pendency of a court action or arbitration, such dispute shall
remain subject to the domain name dispute policy of the registrar from which
the domain name registration was transferred.
9. Policy
Modifications. We
reserve the right to modify this Policy at any time with the permission of
ICANN. We will post our revised Policy
on our web site
at least thirty (30) calendar days before it becomes effective. Unless
this Policy has already been invoked by the submission of a complaint to a
Provider, in which event the version of the Policy in effect at the time
it was invoked will apply to you until the dispute is over, all such
changes will be binding upon you with respect to any domain name
registration dispute, whether the dispute arose before, on or after the
effective date of our change. In the event that you object to a change in
this Policy, your sole remedy is to cancel your domain name registration
with us, provided that you will not be entitled to a refund of any fees
you paid to us. The revised Policy will apply to you until you cancel your
domain name registration.
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