ICANN
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 at <URL> 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. |