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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.
Comments concerning the
layout, construction and functionality of this site
should be sent to webmaster@icann.org.
Page Updated
03-January-00
(c) 2000 The Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers. All rights reserved.
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