New
AITDomains 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
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 AITDomains' Service 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 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 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 http://aitdomains.com/policies/index.htm
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.