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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