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(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
<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.
Click
here
for our Domain Name Whois Lookup Tool
You
should read the relevant agreements associated
with each domain name registration.
Click
here to read the agreements.

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2003 Tough Register
: All Rights Reserved
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Email: sales@toughregister.com
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