| ICANN
Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy
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.
|