Uniform
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
Policy Adopted: August 26, 1999
Implementation Documents Approved: October 24, 1999
Note: This policy is now in effect. See www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-schedule.htm
for the implementation schedule.
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.
