(As Approved by ICANN on October 24,
1999) See
More Details
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 http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-rules-24oct99.htm,
and the selected administrative-dispute-resolution
service provider"s supplemental rules.
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.
Cancellations, Transfers,
and Changes. We will cancel,transfer or
otherwise make changes to domain name
registrations under the following circumstances:
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;
our receipt of an order
from a court or arbitral tribunal, in
each case of competent jurisdiction, requiring
such action; and/or
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.
Mandatory Administrative
Proceeding.This Paragraphsets 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 http://www.icann.org/udrp/approved-providers.htm
(each, a "Provider").
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.
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 online 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.
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.
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).
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").
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Transfers During a Dispute.
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.
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.
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 this
page 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.
|