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(As Approved by ICANN on October 24, 1999)
For more information on the UDRP procedure, please see the UDRP Rules,
as approved by the ICANN Board of Directors on 30 October 2009.
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 http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-policy-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
- the statements that you made in your Registration Agreement are complete and
accurate;
- to your knowledge, the registration of the domain name will not infringe upon or otherwise violate the rights of any third
party;
- you are not registering the domain name for an unlawful purpose; and
- 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:
- 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;
- our receipt of an order from a court or arbitral tribunal, in each case of competent jurisdiction, requiring such action; and/or
- 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").
- 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
- your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant
has rights; and
- you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
- 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.
- Evidence of Registration and Use in Bad Faith. 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:
- 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
- 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
- you have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
- 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.
- 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:
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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").
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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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