TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR DEFENSIVE REGISTRATIONS

© Copyright 2001 GNR Limited.  All rights reserved.

DEFENSIVE REGISTRATIONS 

Defensive Registrations allow owners of nationally registered marks to exclusively pre-register on the .name space and create a protective barrier for their trademarks.  A “Defensive Registration” is a registration granted to a third party of a specific string on the second or third level, or of a specific set of strings on the second and third levels, which will not resolve within the domain name system but may prevent the registration of the same string(s) on the same level(s) by other third party applicants.  

 

PHASES OF DEFENSIVE REGISTRATIONS 

(a)        As a Defensive Registration Registrant (“Defensive Registrant”), you hereby certify to the best of your knowledge that for Phase I Defensive Registrations (“Phase I Defensive Registrants”), you own valid and enforceable trademark or service mark registrations having national effect that issued prior to April 16, 2001 for strings that are identical to the textual or word elements, using ASCII characters only, subject to the same character and formatting restrictions as apply to all registrations in the Registry TLD.  You understand that trademark or service mark registrations from the supplemental or equivalent Registry of any country, or from individual states or provinces of a nation, will not be accepted. Subject to the same character and formatting restrictions as apply to all registrations in the Registry TLD, if a trademark or service mark registration incorporates design elements, the ASCII character portion of that mark may qualify to be a Phase I Defensive Registration.

 

(b)        Phase II Defensive Registrants may apply for a Defensive Registration for any string or combination of strings.

 

(c)        Defensive Registrants, whether Phase I or Phase II shall comply with the following Eligibility Requirements, available at http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/name/registry-agmt-appl-03jul01.htm, the summary of which is as follows:

 

            (i)         There are two levels of Defensive Registrations, each of which is subject to payment of a separate fee;

 

            (ii)        Multiple persons or entities may obtain identical or overlapping Defensive Registrations upon payment by each of a separate registration fee;

 

            (iii)       The Defensive Registrant must provide the information requested in Section 3(a) below;

 

            (iv)       A Defensive Registration will not be granted if it conflicts with a then-existing Personal Name Registration or other reserved word or string.

 

PROVISION OF REGISTRATION DATA 

(a)        As part of the registration process, you are required to provide us with certain information and to update this information to keep it current, complete and accurate.  You must provide contact information, including name, email address, postal address and telephone number, for use in disputes relating to the Defensive Registration. You understand and agree that this contact information will be provided as part of the Whois record for the Defensive Registration.  You further understand that the foregoing registration data may be transferred outside of the European Community, such as to the United States, and you expressly consent to such export.  

 

(b)        In addition to the information provided in subsection (a) above, Phase I Defensive Registrants must also provide (1) the name, in ASCII characters, of the trademark or service mark being registered; (2) the date the registration issued; (3) the country of registration; and (4) the registration number or other comparable identifier used by the registration authority

 

(c)        You hereby represent and warrant the data provided in the registration application is true, correct, up-to-date and complete and that you will continue to keep all of the information provided up-to-date.   Your wilful provision of inaccurate or unreliable information, your wilful failure promptly to update information provided to us, or any failure to respond for over five (5) calendar days to our inquiries addressed to the email address of the administrative, billing or technical contact then appearing in the publicly available Whois directory with respect to a Defensive Registration(s) concerning the accuracy of contact details associated with any such Defensive Registration(s) registered by or through you or your account shall constitute a breach of this Agreement. 

 

DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE POLICY 

(a)        If you registered a Defensive Registration, you agree that:  (i) the Defensive Registration will be subject to challenge pursuant to the Eligibility Requirements Dispute Resolution Policy (“ERDRP”); (ii) if the Defensive Registration is successfully challenged pursuant to the ERDRP, the Defensive Registrant will pay the challenge fees; and (iii) if a challenge is successful, then the Defensive Registration will be subject to the procedures described in Section 2(h) of Appendix L to the agreement of Global Name Registry (“Registry Operator”) with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”), available at http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/name/registry-agmt-appl-03jul01.htm.  

 

(b)        You further agree that if a Phase I Defensive Registration is successfully challenged on the basis that it did not meet the applicable Eligibility Requirements, the Defensive Registrant will thereafter be required to demonstrate, at its expense, that it meets the Eligibility Requirements for Phase I Defensive Registrations for all other Phase I Defensive Registrations that it registered within .name through any Registrar.  In the event that the Defensive Registrant is unable to demonstrate the foregoing with respect to any such Phase I Defensive Registration(s), those Defensive Registration(s) will be cancelled.

 

(c)        The ERDRP applies to, among other things, challenges to Defensive Registrations within .name and is available at http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/name/registry-agmt-appm-03jul01.htm.

 

DEFENSIVE REGISTRATION DISPUTE POLICY MODIFICATIONS 

You agree that we, in our sole discretion, may modify our dispute policy.  We will post any such revised policy on our Web site at least thirty (30) calendar days before it becomes effective.  You agree that, by maintaining the Defensive Registration after modifications to the dispute policy become effective, you have agreed to these modifications.  You acknowledge that if you do not agree to any such modification, you may terminate this Agreement.  We will not refund any fees paid by you if you terminate your Agreement with us.

 

DEFENSIVE REGISTRATIONS DISPUTES

You agree that, if your Defensive Registration is challenged by a third party, you will be subject to the provisions specified in our Defensive Registration dispute policy in effect at the time of the dispute.  You agree that in the event a Defensive Registration dispute arises with any third party, you will indemnify and hold [Registrar] harmless pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth below in this Agreement.  If we are notified that a complaint has been filed with a judicial or administrative body regarding your Defensive Registration, you agree not to make any changes to your Defensive Registration record without our prior approval.  We may not allow you to make changes to such Defensive Registration record until (i) we are directed to do so by the judicial or administrative body, or (ii) we receive notification by you and the other party contesting your Defensive Registration and use of our domain name registration services that the dispute has been settled.  Furthermore, you agree that if you are subject to litigation regarding your Defensive Registration and use of our domain name registration services, we may deposit control of your Defensive Registration record into the registry of the judicial body by supplying a party with a Registrar certificate from us.

 

CONSENT 

Defensive Registrants may be asked to give their consent to allow individuals to share a part of their space.  For example, if you have filed a Defensive Registration on PQR (which blocks out ANYSTRING.PQR.name and PQR.ANYSTRING.name), you may be asked to give consent to John Pqr to register JOHN.PQR.name if he can prove that PQR is his name.  In such a circumstance, you will have five (5) days to respond to a request for consent.

 

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS 

[Registrar] and Registry Operator Operator”), expressly reserve the right to deny, cancel or transfer any Defensive Registration that it deems necessary, in its discretion, to protect the integrity and stability of the Registry, to comply with any applicable laws, government rules or requirements, requests of law enforcement, in compliance with any dispute resolution process, or to avoid any liability, civil or criminal, on the part of [Registrar] and/or Registry Operator, as well as their affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors and employees.  [Registrar] and Registry Operator also reserve the right to freeze a Defensive Registration during a resolution of a dispute.

 

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY 

You agree that Registry Operator will have no liability of any kind for any loss or liability resulting from (i) the processing of Defensive Registration requests prior to live SRS launch, including, without limitation, your ability or inability to obtain a Registered Name or SLD email address registration using these processes; or (ii) any dispute over any .name domain name, SLD email address, Defensive Registration or NameWatch Registration, including the decision of any dispute resolution proceeding related to any of the foregoing.

 

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Registry Operator, and its directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable legal fees and expenses, arising out of or relating to your registration. This indemnification obligation will survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement.

 

COMPLIANCE WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS 

Registrar shall comply with the following:

 

(a)        ICANN standards, policies, procedures, and practices for which Registry Operator has monitoring responsibility in accordance with the Registry Agreement or under any other arrangement with ICANN; and

 

(b)        operational standards, policies, procedures, and practices for the Registry TLD established from time to time by Registry Operator in a non-arbitrary manner and applicable to all Registrars, including affiliates of Registry Operator, and consistent with ICANN's standards, policies, procedures, and practices and Registry Operator's Registry Agreement with ICANN.  Among Registry Operator's operational standards, policies, procedures, and practices are those set forth in Exhibit E of the Registry-Registrar Agreement, available at http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/name/registry-agmt-appf-03jul01.htm.  Additional or revised Registry Operator operational standards, policies, procedures, and practices for the Registry TLD shall be effective upon thirty (30) days notice by Registry Operator to Registrar.