Domain Dispute Policy
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 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.
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
4(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.
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.
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