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Intellectual Property Defensive Registration Challenge Policy

  1. This policy has been adopted by all accredited domain-name registrars for domain names ending in .pro.
  2. The policy is between the registrar and its customer (the domain-name holder or registrant). Thus, the policy uses "we" and "our" to refer to the registrar and it uses "you" and "your" to refer to the domain-name holder.

1. Purpose. This Intellectual Property Defensive Registration Challenge Policy (the "Policy") has been adopted by RegistryPro, Inc. ("RegistryPro") and is incorporated by reference into the Registration Agreement (the "Registration Agreement") between you (as the "Registrant") and us (as the "Registrar"). The Policy applies to challenges made to intellectual property defensive registrations registered under the .pro top-level domain (including any such registrations that have been converted to domain?name registrations) (collectively, "IP Defensive Registrations"). The Policy sets forth the terms and conditions that will apply in the event of a dispute between you and any party other than RegistryPro (except as provided for in Paragraph 4(m) below) regarding whether your IP Defensive Registration (including the initial data required to be submitted to Registrar in conjunction with such IP Defensive Registration) complies with the conditions set forth in the Registration Agreement for registration of an IP Defensive Registration (the "IP Defensive Registration Conditions").

Proceedings under Paragraph 4 of this Policy will be conducted pursuant to the Rules for Intellectual Property Defensive Registration Challenge Policy for .Pro (the "Rules"), which are available online. Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in the Policy are defined in the Rules.

2. Registrant's Representations. By applying to register an IP Defensive Registration, you represent and warrant to us and to RegistryPro that: (a) the statements that you made in your Registration Agreement are complete and accurate; (b) the registration of the IP Defensive Registration complies in all respects with the IP Defensive Registration Conditions; (c) to your knowledge, the registration of the IP Defensive Registration will not infringe upon or otherwise violate the rights of any third party; (d) you are not registering the IP Defensive Registration for an unlawful purpose; and (e) you will not knowingly use the IP Defensive Registration in violation of any applicable laws or regulations. It is your responsibility to determine whether your IP Defensive Registration infringes or violates someone else's rights and complies with the terms and conditions of the Registration Agreement.

3. Cancellations, Transfers, and Changes. We will cancel, transfer, or otherwise make changes to a IP Defensive Registration 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 RegistryPro; and/or

d. our receipt of any order or decision requiring such action from any other proceeding to which you were a party.

We may also cancel, transfer or otherwise make changes to an IP Defensive Registration in accordance with the terms of the Registration Agreement or other legal requirements.

4. Mandatory Administrative Proceeding. This Paragraph sets forth one type of dispute 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"). You are also required to submit to other dispute-resolution policies for some types of disputes not covered by this Policy.

a. Applicable Disputes. You are required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding in the event that a third party (the "Challenger") or RegistryPro (as set forth in Paragraph 4(m)) asserts to the Center, in compliance with the Rules, that your IP Defensive Registration did not comply with the IP Defensive Registration Conditions. All challenges under this Policy (except for Registry Challenges pursuant to Paragraph 4(m)) must be submitted to the Center no earlier than June 1, 2003 and no later than six months after the date of the IP Defensive Registration (such challenge period is referred to as the "Challenge Period"). Any disputes concerning an IP Defensive Registration that is, or can be, the subject of a challenge or a Registry Challenge under this Policy shall not be the subject of a proceeding under the UDRP.

b. How to Demonstrate Compliance with the IP Defensive Registration Conditions. In order to demonstrate compliance with the IP Defensive Registration Conditions, a Party must submit, as further specified in the Rules, an original or a copy, certified as correct by the issuing trademark authority, of a trademark or service mark certificate establishing that:

(i) at the time of the registration of the IP Defensive Registration, a trademark or service mark was registered in the name of the Party, and was current (non-expired), as evidenced by the date(s) set forth in the certificate itself; and

(ii) the textual or word elements of the trademark or service mark registration are identical to the IP Defensive Registration; and

(iii) the trademark or service mark registration is of national effect; and

(iv) for those IP Defensive Registrations submitted during the Sunrise Registration Period only, the trademark or service mark was registered with the relevant trademark authority prior to September 30, 2002.

c. Multiple Challenges. In the event that one or more challenges are submitted to the Center regarding an IP Defensive Registration that is already the subject of a pending challenge, 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. If a challenge is terminated without a determination by the Center regarding the Respondent's compliance with the IP Defensive Registration Conditions, the Center will proceed with the next challenge it received regarding such IP Defensive Registration.

d. Decision. The challenge will be decided upon by the Center as set out in Subparagraphs (i) to (ii) below. The Center's decision of whether the IP Defensive Registration Conditions are met will be based on an examination of any trademark or service mark certificates submitted as compared with the information contained in the relevant RegistryPro Whois database, and an examination of the validity of such trademark registration using any available electronic databases of current trademark registrations. 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.

(i) If the Center finds that you have registered the IP Defensive Registration in compliance with the IP Defensive Registration Conditions, the Center will dismiss the Challenge.

(ii) If the Center is unable to find that you have registered the IP Defensive Registration in compliance with the IP Defensive Registration Conditions, the Center will proceed as follows:

(1) If the Challenger has not requested transfer of the IP Defensive Registration, the Center shall order that the IP Defensive Registration be cancelled.

(2) If the Challenger has requested transfer of the IP Defensive Registration, the Center shall inform RegistryPro accordingly. RegistryPro shall place the IP Defensive Registration on registry lock for at least twenty one (21) days, during which time the Challenger shall have the opportunity to apply to register the corresponding IP Defensive Registration or domain name.

e. Consolidation. A challenge may not relate to more than one IP Defensive Registration. In the event a Challenger submits more than one challenge under this Policy 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 (subject to any other arrangements that may apply to Registry Challenges pursuant to Paragraph) is subject to the payment of, a Challenger's fee in the amount of USD [500], subject to the provisions of the Rules, Paragraph [13]. Payments are to be made by credit card using the secure online form made available by the Center. 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.

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 those set forth in Paragraph 4(e).

i. Notification. The Center shall notify us and RegistryPro of any decision made under this Policy with respect to an IP Defensive Registration you have registered with us in accordance with the Rules. The outcomes of all administrative proceedings under this Policy shall be published in accordance with the Rules.

j. Request for Information. RegistryPro reserves the right to request and verify information regarding compliance with the IP Defensive Registration Conditions directly from any Party at any time.

k. Availability of Court Proceedings. The mandatory administrative proceeding requirements set forth in Paragraph 4(a) shall not prevent either you or the Challenger from submitting the dispute to a court of competent jurisdiction for independent resolution.

l. Registry Challenges. RegistryPro reserves the right to initiate challenges in connection with IP Defensive Registrations that RegistryPro reasonably believes did not satisfy the IP Defensive Registration Conditions ("Registry Challenges"). Such Registry Challenges may be administered pursuant to this Policy or other policies and procedures approved by ICANN.

5. Maintaining the Status Quo. Except as may be required by other policies or legal requirements, we will not cancel, transfer, activate, deactivate, or otherwise change the status of any IP Defensive Registration subject to this Policy, except as provided in Paragraph 3 and 4 above and 6 below.

6. Transfers During a Dispute.

a. Transfers of an IP Defensive Registration to a New Holder. You may not transfer your IP Defensive Registration to another holder or delete your IP Defensive Registration (i) before the end of the Registry Challenge Period and (ii) until any challenges brought pursuant to this Policy or Registry Challenges in relation to the IP Defensive Registration have been resolved, except that a transfer may be made to the Challenger as a result of a pending administrative proceeding under this Policy (e.g., in the event of a settlement of the dispute), provided that the Challenger meets all other applicable requirements for registering the domain name or IP Defensive Registration at the time it seeks to register the Challenged Name. Nothing in this paragraph limits our ability to cancel your IP Defensive Registration in accordance with your Registration Agreement.

b. Changing Registrars. You may not transfer your IP Defensive Registration to another registrar until all pending challenges against your IP Defensive Registration pursuant to this Policy and Registry Challenges have been resolved.

7. Policy Modifications. RegistryPro reserves the right to modify this Policy at any time with the permission of ICANN. Any revisions of this Policy will be posted online at http://www.registrypro.pro at least fifteen (15) days prior to its effective date. 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 IP Defensive 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 IP Defensive 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 IP Defensive Registration.

Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."