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Policy
Adopted: August 26, 1999
Implementation Documents Approved: October 24,
1999 |
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Notes:
- This
policy is now in effect. See www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-schedule.htm for
the implementation schedule.
- This policy has been
adopted by all accredited domain-name registrars for
domain names ending in .com, .net, and .org. It has also
been adopted by certain managers of country-code top-level
domains (e.g., .nu, .tv, .ws).
- The policy is between
the registrar (or other registration authority in the case
of a country-code top-level domain) and its customer (the
domain-name holder or registrant). Thus, the policy uses "we" and "our" to
refer to the registrar and it uses "you" and "your" to
refer to the domain-name holder.
Uniform 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 <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.
Page Updated
17-May-2002
©2000, 2002 The Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers. All rights reserved.
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