Uniform
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
(As Approved by ICANN on October 24, 1999)
Notes:
(1) This policy has been adopted by all ICANN-accredited registrars. It
has also been adopted by certain managers of country-code top-level
domains (e.g., .nu, .tv, .ws).
(2) 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.
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 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.