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 Bulk Register 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.ht
m, 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.ht
m (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 http://www.bulkregister.com/reviseddisputepolicy.html
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.