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.