Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
| Policy Adopted:
August 26, 1999 Implementation Documents Approved: October 24, 1999 |
| Note:
This policy is now in effect. See www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-schedule.htm
for the implementation schedule. 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.
Page Updated 03-January-00 (c) 2000 The
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. All rights reserved.
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