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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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