Notes:
1.
This policy is now in effect. See www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-schedule.htm
for the implementation schedule.
2.
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).
3.
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
(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 <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.
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