Domain
Name 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
