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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.
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