UDRP
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by Lee Hodgson August 15, 2003
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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 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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