This .IO Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “.IO Policy”) has been adopted by NIC.IO, 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 a .IO Registrar accredited by NIC.IO (the “Registrar”) over the registration and use of an Internet domain name under the .IO TLD registered by you. Proceedings under Paragraph 4 of this Policy will be conducted according to the Rules for .IO Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “.IO Rules”), which are available at https://nic.io/rules_for_dispute_policy.htm and the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) Supplemental Rules for .IO Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “WIPO Supplemental Rules for .IO”), available on WIPO’s website.
By applying to register a domain name, or by asking the Registrar to maintain or renew a domain name registration, you hereby represent and warrant to the Registrar 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.
The Registrar will cancel, transfer or otherwise make changes to domain name registrations under the following circumstances:
- subject to the provisions of Paragraph 8, the Registrar’s receipt of written or appropriate electronic instructions from you or your authorized agent to take such action;
- the Registrar’s receipt of an order from a court or arbitral tribunal, in each case of competent jurisdiction, requiring such action; and/or
- the Registrar’s 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 NIC.IO. (See Paragraph 4(i) and (k) below.)
The Registrar 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.
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 the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “WIPO Center”).
- Applicable Disputes. You are required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding in the event that a third party (a “complainant”) asserts to the WIPO Center, in compliance with the .IO Rules, 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 or is being used in bad faith.
In the administrative proceeding, the complainant must prove that each of these three elements are present.
- Evidence of Registration or 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 online 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.
- 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 .IO Rules 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.
- Submission of a complaint. The complainant shall submit the complaint to the WIPO Center.
- Initiation of Proceeding and Process and Appointment of Administrative Panel. The .IO Rules state the process for initiating and conducting a proceeding and for appointing the Administrative Panel that will decide the dispute.
- 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 NIC.IO.
- Fees. All fees charged by the WIPO Center 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 .IO Rules, in which case all fees will be split evenly by you and the complainant.
- Our Involvement in Administrative Proceedings. The Registrar does not, and will not, participate in the administration or conduct of any proceeding before an Administrative Panel. In addition, the Registrar will not be liable as a result of any decisions rendered by the Administrative Panel.
- 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.
- Notification and Publication. The WIPO Center shall notify the Registrar of any decision made by an Administrative Panel with respect to a domain name you have registered with the Registrar. 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.
- 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, the Registrar will wait ten (10) business days (as observed in the location of the Registrar’s principal office) after the Registrar is informed by the WIPO Center of the Administrative Panel’s decision before implementing that decision. The Registrar will then implement the decision unless the Registrar has 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 the courts of England. If the Registrar receives such documentation within the ten (10) business day period, the Registrar will not implement the Administrative Panel’s decision, and the Registrar will take no further action, until the Registrar receives (i) evidence satisfactory to the Registrar of a resolution between the parties; (ii) evidence satisfactory to the Registrar 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.
All other disputes between you and any party other than the Registrar 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.
The Registrar will not participate in any way in any dispute between you and any party other than the Registrar regarding the registration and use of your domain name. You shall not name the Registrar as a party or otherwise include the Registrar in any such proceeding. In the event that the Registrar is named as a party in any such proceeding, the Registrar reserves the right to raise any and all defenses deemed appropriate, and to take any other action necessary to defend itself.
The Registrar 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.
- 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 the Registrar’s 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. The Registrar reserves the right to cancel any transfer of a domain name registration to another holder that is made in violation of this subparagraph.
- 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 the Registrar’s 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 the Registrar shall continue to be subject to the proceedings commenced against you in accordance with the terms of this Policy.
NIC.IO reserves the right to modify this Policy at any time. NIC.IO will post the revised Policy at https://nic.io/dispute_policy.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 the WIPO 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 such change. In the event that you object to a change in this Policy, your sole remedy is to cancel your domain name registration with the Registrar, provided that you will not be entitled to a refund of any fees you paid to the Registrar. The revised Policy will apply to you until you cancel your domain name registration.
Last Modified 2023-07-18