Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
(As Approved by ICANN on October 24, 1999
and implemented by eNom, Inc., on December 1, 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 http://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 http://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.enom.com/drp.asp
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.