Sunrise Challenge Policy (Original)
[Note: A revised version of this policy has been posted, persuant to the Policy Modification provisions (see paragraph 7) and after approval by ICANN.]
- Purpose. This Sunrise Registration Challenge Policy (the "Policy")
has been adopted by Afilias. It is incorporated by reference into the
<.info> Registration Agreement (the "Registration Agreement").
It sets forth the terms and conditions in connection with a dispute between
you (as the registrant) and any party other than us (as the registrar) or
the registry operator for the <.info> top-level domain (the "Registry")
regarding the compliance of your registration of a second-level domain name
(the "Domain Name") with the sunrise registration conditions set forth in
the Registration Agreement.
Proceedings under Paragraph 4 of this Policy will be conducted according to
the Rules for Sunrise Registration Challenge Policy (the "Rules"). - Your Representations. By applying to register a domain name in accordance
with the sunrise registration conditions of the Registration Agreement, you
hereby represent and warrant to us that (a) the statements that you made in
your Registration Agreement are complete and accurate; (b) the registration
of the Domain Name complies with the sunrise registration conditions set forth
in the Registration Agreement; (c) to your knowledge, the Domain Name will
not infringe upon or otherwise violate the rights of any third party; (d)
you are not registering the Domain Name for an unlawful purpose; and (e) 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.
- Cancellations, Transfers, and Changes. We will cancel, transfer or
otherwise make changes to a domain name registration that is subject to this
Policy under the following circumstances:
a. subject to the provisions of Paragraph 6, our receipt of written
or appropriate electronic instructions from you or your authorized agent to
take such action; and/or
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 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 Afilias.
We may also cancel, transfer or otherwise make changes to a domain name registration
in accordance with the terms of the Registration Agreement or other legal
requirements.
- 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 administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration
and Mediation Center (the "Center").
a. Applicable Disputes. You are required to submit to
a mandatory administrative proceeding in the event that a third party (the
"Challenger") asserts to the Center, in compliance with the Rules, that:
(i) at the time of your registration of the Domain Name, no current
(non-expired) trademark or service mark registration was issued in your name;1
or
(ii) the Domain Name is not identical to the textual or word
elements of the trademark or service mark registration on which the registration
of your Domain Name is based;2 or
(iii) the trademark or service mark registration on which the
registration of your Domain Name is based is not of national effect;3
or
(iv) the trademark or service mark registration on which the
registration of your Domain Name was based did not issue prior to October
2, 2000.
All challenges under this Policy must be submitted to the Center not later
than one hundred and twenty (120) days after the conclusion of the Sunrise
Registration Period.
b. How to Demonstrate Your Compliance with the Sunrise Registration
Conditions. When you receive a challenge, you should refer to the
Rules to determine how your response should be prepared. To demonstrate
that you have complied with the sunrise registration conditions of the Registration
Agreement, you must submit, as part of your response, an original or a certified
copy of a trademark or service mark certificate establishing that:
(i) at the time of your registration of the Domain Name, a trademark
or service mark was registered in your name and was current (non-expired),
as evidenced by the date(s) set forth in the certificate itself;4
and
(ii) the textual or word elements of the trademark or service
mark registration are identical to the Domain Name;5
and
(iii) the trademark or service mark registration was of national
effect;6 and
(iv) the trademark or service mark registration was issued prior
to October 2, 2000.
c. Decision. The challenge will be decided upon
by the Center. The Center's determination of whether your response meets
the conditions set forth in Paragraph 4(b) will be based solely on a prima
facie examination of any trademark or service mark certificates submitted
by you. The Center's decision is of an administrative nature and shall
be final. The Center shall not be required to state reasons for its
decision.
d. Initiation of Proceeding. The Rules state the
process for initiating and conducting a proceeding under this Policy.
e. Consolidation. A challenge may not relate to
more than one domain name. In the event a Challenger under this Policy submitted
more than one challenge against you, either you or the Challenger may petition
the Center to consolidate such disputes. The Center may consolidate before
it any or all such disputes in its sole discretion, provided that the disputes
being consolidated are governed by this Policy.
f. Fees. In accordance with the Rules, the submission
of a challenge under this Policy, as well as the submission of a response
thereto, is subject to the payment of, respectively, a Challenger's fee and
a Respondent's fee in the amount of USD 295, subject to the provisions of
Rules, Paragraph 13. All payments are to be made by credit card.
If a challenge is submitted, but the Challenger's fee is not paid in accordance
with the Rules, the challenge will be dismissed on the basis of the Challenger's
failure to pay its fee. If the Respondent's fee is not paid in accordance
with the Rules, the challenge will be granted on the basis of the Respondent's
failure to pay its fee, provided the challenge is in formal compliance with
the Policy and Rules. The Rules describe the circumstances under which
either the Challenger or the Respondent will be entitled to a reimbursement
of the fees paid.
g. Our Involvement in Administrative Proceedings.
We do not, and will not, participate in the administration or conduct of any
proceeding before the Center under this Policy. In addition, we will
not be liable as a result of any decisions rendered by the Center.
h. Remedies. The remedies available to a Challenger
shall be limited to requiring the cancellation of your Domain Name registration
or the transfer of your Domain Name registration to the Challenger.
i. Notification. The Center shall notify any decision
made under this Policy with respect to a Domain Name you have registered with
us in accordance with the Rules.
j. Implementation of the Decision. The Center will
notify its decision to the Registry for implementation. In cases where
a prevailing Challenger seeks the transfer of the Domain Name, such Challenger
will be provided with an authorization code generated by the Registry which
will allow the Challenger to register the Domain Name in its name, at the
registrar of its choice, within 10 days of the date on which the notification
of the authorization code is sent to the Challenger, in accordance with and
subject to the sunrise registration conditions set forth in the Registration
Agreement.
k. Multiple Challenges. In the event more than one
challenge is submitted to the Center regarding the same Domain Name, the following
shall apply:
(i) All such challenges will be queued in accordance with the
date and time they were received by the Center. The first challenge
to be filed will be granted priority, provided the Center is satisfied that
the Challenger concerned paid the Challenger's fee in accordance with the
Rules (the "Priority Challenge" and the "Priority Challenger").
(ii) If the Center finds that you have registered the Domain
Name in compliance with the sunrise registration conditions set forth in the
Registration Agreement, the Center will dismiss the Priority Challenge, as
well as all other challenges in the queue.
(iii) If the Center is unable to find that you have registered
the Domain Name in compliance with the sunrise registration conditions set
forth in the Registration Agreement, the Priority Challenger will be granted7.
(iv) If a prevailing Priority Challenger sought a cancellation
or if the Center is informed by the Registry that a prevailing Priority Challenger
who sought a transfer has failed to register the Domain Name in its name by
the end of the time period stipulated in Paragraph 4(j) of this Policy, the
Center shall grant the next Challenger in the queue the opportunity to register
the Domain Name in its name in accordance with and subject to the sunrise
registration conditions set forth in the Registration Agreement, provided
such Challenger has submitted a challenge requesting a transfer which is in
formal compliance with the Policy and the Rules, and the Center is satisfied
that the Challenger has paid the Challenger's fee in accordance with the Rules.
(v) The procedure described in Paragraph (iv) will be repeated
until the Domain Name has been registered in the name of a Challenger in the
queue or until there are no Challengers in the queue. If, upon the expiry
of the Sunrise Challenge Period referred to in Paragraph 4(a) above,
there
are no Challengers in the queue, the Domain Name will be returned to the pool
of available domain names in accordance with the Registry's procedures for
cancelled domain name registrations.
(vi) As soon as a Domain Name has been registered in the name
of a Challenger in accordance with the previous provisions of this Paragraph,
the Registry will notify the Center thereof and the Center will notify such
registration to any remaining Challengers. Any remaining Challenger
may initiate a new challenge against the new registrant. The Priority
Challenger for any such new proceeding will be determined in accordance with
the originally generated queue in relation to the domain name in question,
provided the challenge is submitted within thirty (30) days of the notification
of the new domain name registration, and any subsequent challenges that have
been added.
5. Maintaining the Status Quo. We will not cancel,
transfer, activate, deactivate, or otherwise change the status of any Domain
Name registration subject to this Policy, except as provided in Paragraph
3 and 4 above.
6. Transfers During a Dispute.
a. Transfers of a Domain Name to a New Holder. You may not transfer
your Domain Name registration that is subject to this Policy to another holder
until all challenges brought pursuant to this Policy in relation to this Domain
Name have been resolved, except that a transfer may be made to the Priority
Challenger in a pending administrative proceeding under this Policy (e.g.,
in the event of a settlement of the dispute). Any registration pursuant
to such transfer will be subject the sunrise registration conditions set forth
in the Registration Agreement.
b. Changing Registrars. You may not transfer your Domain Name
registration that is subject to this Policy to another registrar until all
challenges pursuant to this Policy have been resolved.
7. Policy Modifications.
Afilias reserves the right to modify this Policy at any time with the permission
of ICANN. We will post the revised Policy at
http://www.afilias.info at least fifteen (15) days before it becomes effective.
Unless this Policy has already been invoked by the submission of a challenge
to the Center, 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 the 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.
1 A registration in the
supplemental register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office does
not qualify as such registration. back2 Identity will
be deemed to exist also where there is a space between the textual or word
elements of the mark (e.g., service mark) and a hyphen is used or the elements
are combined in the Domain Name (e.g., service-mark.info or servicemark.info).
In all other respects, the Domain Name must be identical to the textual or
word elements of the mark. back3 For instance,
European Community Trademarks meet the condition of national effect, but United
States state trademarks or service marks do not. back4 Reference is
made to footnote 1. back5 Reference is
made to footnote 2. back6 Reference is
made to footnote 3. back7 The Center will
be unable to find that you have registered the Domain Name in compliance with
the sunrise registration conditions set forth in the Registration Agreement
if inter alia you fail to pay the Respondent's fee referred to in Paragraph
4(f) of this Policy. back
