UNIFORM DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE POLICY |
Approved by ICANN: October 24, 1999
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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.
- Purpose
- Your Representations
- Cancellations
- Mandatory Administrative Proceeding
- All Other Disputes and Litigation
- Our Involvement in Disputes
- Maintaining the Status Quo
- Transfers During a Dispute
- Policy Modifications
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.
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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 under http://www.icann.org/udrp/approved-providers.htm.
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.
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your domain name is identical or confusingly
similar to a trademark or service mark in
which the complainant has rights; and |
ii.
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you have no rights or legitimate interests
in respect of the domain name; and |
iii.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. |
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. |
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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").
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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.
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evidence satisfactory to us of a resolution
between the parties; |
ii.
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evidence satisfactory to us that your lawsuit
has been dismissed or withdrawn; or |
iii.
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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. |
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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.
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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.
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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.
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We reserve the right to cancel any transfer of
a domain name registration to another holder that
is made in violation of this subparagraph.
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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 this 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.
Additional information regarding the Uniform Domain
Name Dispute Resolution Policy & Rules may be found
at http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp.htm.
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