| 1. Purpose
This Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Dispute
Resolution Policy") has been adopted by the Hong Kong Domain
Name Registration Company Limited ("HKDNR") and is incorporated
by reference into your Domain Name Registration Agreement and/or the Domain
Name Registration Agreement for Trial Chinese Domain Name (i.e. domain
names with the extension " .hk")
between HKDNR and you ("Registration Agreement"). This
Dispute Resolution Policy sets forth the terms and conditions in connection
with a dispute between you and any party other than the HKDNR in regard
to the registration and use of a .hk Internet Domain Name (other than
a .idv.hk Domain Name) registered with us by you ("Domain Name").
Disputes in relation to .idv.hk domain names are governed by the HKDNR
Dispute Resolution Policy Individual Domain Names. No complaint can be
filed against the registration of a Trial Chinese Domain Name within the
month prior to the end of the Technical Trial Period or any extension
of the Technical Trial Period since all Trial Chinese Domain Names will
be cancelled at the end of the Technical Trial Period or any extension
of the Technical Trial Period in any event.
Proceedings under Paragraph 4 of this Dispute Resolution
Policy will be conducted according to the HKDNR Domain Name Dispute Resolution
Policy Rules of Procedure (the "Rules of Procedure"),
see Appendix A and the selected Arbitration Dispute Resolution Service
Provider's Supplemental Rules ("the 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 represent and warrant
to us that
- the statements that you made in your Registration Agreement are
complete and accurate;
- to the best of your knowledge and belief, the Domain Name you are
applying for will not infringe or otherwise violate the legal rights
of any third party;
- you intend to use the Domain Name;
- your use of the Domain Name shall be bona fide for your own benefit
and shall be for lawful purposes;
- you will not knowingly use the Domain Name in violation of any applicable
laws and regulations;
- all information you or your Agent provides to us, including further
additions or alterations to such information, is true and accurate;
and
- in the event that you receive notification of any claim, action
or demand arising out of or related to the registration or use of
the Domain Name, you will immediately send us a written notice notifying
us of such claim, action or demand.
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 Names in accordance with clauses 11 and 12.1 of the Registration
Agreement.
4. Mandatory Arbitration Proceeding
This Paragraph sets forth the type of disputes for which
you are required to submit to a mandatory arbitration proceeding. These
proceedings will be conducted before one of the Dispute Resolution Service
Providers approved by us (each, a "Provider").
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Applicable Disputes. You are required
to submit to a mandatory arbitration proceeding in the event that
a third party (a "Complainant") asserts to the applicable
Provider, in compliance with the Rules of Procedure and the Supplemental
Rules of such Provider, that:
- your Domain Name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark
or service mark in Hong Kong in which the Complainant has rights;
and
- you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain
Name; and
- your Domain Name has been registered and is being used in bad
faith.
To succeed in the arbitration proceeding, the Complainant must prove
that all of these three elements are present. For the purpose of requirement
(i) in relation to Chinese domain names, the traditional or simplified
form or any other variant set out in the Chinese Characters Variant
Table (defined in the Domain Name Registration Agreement for Trial Chinese
Domain Names) of the same Chinese character appearing in a domain name
and trade mark respectively will be considered to be identical and confusingly
similar to each other.
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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 an Arbitration Panel
to be present, shall be evidence of the registration and use of a
Domain Name in bad faith:
- 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
- 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
- you have registered the Domain Name primarily for the purpose
of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
- 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.
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How to Demonstrate Your Rights to and Legitimate
Interests in the Domain Name in Responding to a Complaint.
When you receive a Complaint as defined in Paragraph 3 of the Rules
of Procedure, 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 an Arbitration Panel to be proven based on its evaluation
of all evidence presented to it, shall demonstrate your rights or
legitimate interests to the Domain Name for purposes of Paragraph
4(a)(ii):
- 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 in Hong Kong; or
- you (as an individual, business, or other organisation) have been
commonly known by the Domain Name, even if you have acquired no
trade mark or service mark rights in Hong Kong; or
- you are making a legitimate non-commercial or fair use of the
Domain Name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly
divert consumers or to tarnish the trade mark or service mark at
issue.
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Selection of Provider. The Complainant
shall select the Provider from among those approved by the HKDNR by
submitting the Complaint to that Provider. The selected Provider will
administer the arbitration proceedings.
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Initiation of arbitration proceeding and
process and appointment of Arbitration Panel. The Rules of
Procedure and the Provider's Supplementary Rules set out the process
for initiating and conducting an arbitration proceeding and for appointing
the Arbitration Panel, which will decide the dispute.
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Fees. All fees charged by a Provider
in connection with any dispute before an Arbitration Panel pursuant
to this Dispute Resolution Policy shall be paid by the Complainant,
except in cases where you elect to expand the Arbitration Panel from
one to three Panelists as provided in Paragraph 5(b)(iv) of the Rules
of Procedure and in the Provider's Supplemental Rules, in which case
all fees will be split evenly by you and the Complainant.
Attention is also drawn to Paragraph 18(d) of the Rules of Procedure
which provides for the possible charge for extra fees in the exceptional
circumstances, for example if an in-person hearing is held.
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Our Involvement in Arbitration Proceedings.
We do not, and will not, participate in the administration or conduct
of any proceeding before an Arbitration Panel. In addition, we will
not be liable as a result of any decisions rendered by an Arbitration
Panel.
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Remedies. The remedies
available to a Complainant pursuant to any proceeding before an Arbitration
Panel shall be limited to requiring the cancellation of your Domain
Name or the transfer of your Domain Name registration to the Complainant.
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Notification and Publication.
The Provider shall notify us of any decision made by an Arbitration
Panel with respect to a Domain Name you have registered with us. All
decisions under this Dispute Resolution Policy, the Rules of Procedure
and the Provider's Supplemental Rules will be final and binding and
including without limitation publication in full on the Internet or
other forms of publication, except when an Arbitration Panel determines
in an exceptional case, to redact portions of its decision.
The Provider shall notify us of any decision made by an Arbitration
Panel with respect to a Domain Name you have registered with us. All
decisions under this Dispute Resolution Policy, the Rules of Procedure
and the Provider's Supplemental Rules will be final and binding and
including without limitation publication in full on the Internet or
other forms of publication, except when an Arbitration Panel determines
in an exceptional case, to redact portions of its decision.
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Results of an Arbitration Panel's Decision.
If an Arbitration Panel decides that your Domain Name registration
should be cancelled or transferred, we will wait ten (10) business
days after we are informed by the applicable Provider of the Arbitration
Panel's decision before implementing that decision.
5. 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 defences
deemed appropriate, and to take any other action necessary to defend
ourselves.
6. Maintaining the Status Quo
We will not cancel, transfer, activate, deactivate, or
otherwise change the status of any Domain Name registration under this
Dispute Resolution Policy except as provided in Paragraphs 3 and 4 above.
7. Transfers During a Dispute to
a new holder
You may not transfer your Domain Name registration to
another holder (i) during a pending arbitration proceeding brought pursuant
to Paragraph 4 or for a period of ten (10) business days after such
proceeding is concluded; or (ii) during a pending arbitration proceeding
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 Arbitration Panel. We reserve the right to cancel
any transfer of a Domain Name registration to another holder that is
made in violation of this subparagraph.
8. Policy Modifications
We reserve the right to amend this Dispute Resolution
Policy at any time. Each time we amend the Dispute Resolution Policy
we will publish the amended version of the Dispute Resolution Policy
in advance (where practicable, 14 calendar days in advance) on our web
site: http://www.hkirc.net.hk.
Each amended version of the Dispute Resolution Policy will become binding
and effective on you and us on the effective date specified at the top
of the amended version, and will replace all previous versions of the
Dispute Resolution Policy. You should review our web site regularly
in order to be aware of all such amendments.
If this Dispute Resolution Policy has been invoked in
the submission of a Complaint to a Provider, the version of the Dispute
Resolution Policy in effect at the time it was invoked will apply to
that submission until the arbitration proceeding is over.
In the event that you object to a change in this Dispute
Resolution 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 Dispute Resolution Policy, as modified, will apply
to you until you cancel your Domain Name registration.
9. Miscellaneous
In this Dispute Resolution Policy:
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Words importing the singular number only shall include
the plural and the converse shall also apply.
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Words importing the masculine gender shall include
the feminine gender and the converse shall also apply.
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