(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
http://www.icann.org/udrp/ 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.
