Uniform
Domain Name
Dispute Resolution Policy
Policy
Adopted: August 26, 1999
Implementation Documents Approved: October 24, 1999
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 www.domainlot.com/about/udrp.php
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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