Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
1. Purpose. This
Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Policy") 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"),
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. (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.
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 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.
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. 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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