SCHEDULE A
IP Claim Service
Terms Of Use
THIS IS A LEGALLY BINDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN
TUCOWS, INC. (“REGISTRAR”) AND YOU, THE OWNER OF A REGISTERED OR COMMON LAW
TRADEMARK OR SERVICE MARK (“OWNER”) OR THE DULY AUTHORIZED AGENT OF AN OWNER
(“AGENT”) (COLLECTIVELY, “YOU”).
THESE TERMS OF USE ARE THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF THE TERMS
OF USE REGARDING USE OF THE REGISTRAR’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CLAIM SERVICE (THE
“SERVICE”).
BY SELECTING “I AGREE,” BY USING THE
SERVICE OR BY SIGNIFYING ACCEPTANCE IN ANY OTHER WAY, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY
THESE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT
AGREE WITH ALL OF THESE TERMS OF USE, YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO USE THE SERVICE
AND YOU MUST DISCONTINUE ANY FURTHER USE.
1.
The Service.
Registrar provides the Service to holders of
both registered and common law trademarks or service marks (collectively
“Trademarks”). During the domain
name application process, applicants for a .biz domain name (“Applicants”) will
be notified of an Owner’s alleged intellectual property rights in a Trademark if
the domain name contained in the domain name application is an exact match of
the Trademark identified in an IP Claim (as defined below) submitted by
Owner. You may review frequently
asked questions regarding the Service by reviewing our
FAQs.
2.
Registration, Password and
Security.
You must provide accurate, complete and current registration information
and must update this information promptly if it changes.
You represent and warrant that You are at least eighteen (18) years
of age or older and are either an Owner or an Agent duly authorized to represent
an Owner(s) in connection with the Service and submitting an IP Claim on behalf
of an Owner(s). Agent will
indemnify and hold harmless Registrar and its officers, directors, employees,
agents, affiliates and subcontractors for any claims brought by Owner or Third
Parties relating to the use of the Service.
3.
License to Use Data /
Privacy. By submitting an IP Claim, You hereby
grant Registrar, as well as any of its agents or subcontractors, a limited,
royalty-free, non-exclusive worldwide license to use all of the data contained
in the IP Claim solely for the purposes of implementing the Service, processing
Your IP Claim, notifying Applicants of Your IP Claim, and for notifying You of
changes to the Service, for archival purposes.
4.
The IP Claim Process. In order to submit a claim with respect
to a Trademark or Trademarks (“IP Claim”) through the Service, You must
complete an IP Claim form for each Trademark. For each IP Claim, You must submit
complete contact information, representative contact information and
notification details, and the details regarding the Trademark. You may specify in the representative
field that an Agent may receive legal correspondence regarding the IP
Claim. Once You have submitted an
IP Claim, you will receive a confirmation email and a claim number. You must retain the claim number for
each IP Claim You submit.
Registrar will accept IP Claims until July 9, 2001, or such later
date as it may determine in its sole discretion (“Close of Phase I”) and no IP
Claims will be accepted after that date.
From the Close of Phase I until September 25, 2001 (“Phase 2”), or
such other later date as Registrar may choose, in its sole discretion, the
domain name applications from ICANN-approved registrars (“Applications”) will be
compared with the database of IP Claims processed through the Service (“IP Claim
Database”). For each exact match
between an IP Claim in the IP Claim Database and a domain name application, the
Registry Operator for .Biz (“Registry Operator”) will notify the Applicant that
a third party or third parties have submitted an IP Claim for the exact
Trademark. The email notification
to the Applicant will include, among other things, the information provided by
Owner in the IP Claim, instructions on how to proceed with the registration
process, and that if selected during the randomized name selection phase (“Name
Selection Phase”), the domain name will be placed on a temporary thirty (30) day
hold when the Registry goes “live.”
The Applicant will have the option to proceed with the Application or
cancel the Application. If the
Applicant does not respond to the email notification, or elects to cancel the
Application, the Applicant’s domain name application will not be
processed during the Name Selection Phase.
If the Applicant chooses to proceed with the registration process and the
name is selected during the Name Selection Phase, that domain name automatically
will be placed on a thirty (30) day “hold period” when the name is
registered.
After Name Selection, the Owner will be notified by Registry Operator
if an Applicant has successfully registered the domain name. The Owner will then have the option of
contacting the Applicant and finding a solution or using the guidelines set
forth by a special dispute resolution process called the Start-up Trademark
Opposition Policy (“STOP”)(formerly referred to as the Start-up Dispute
Resolution Policy or “SUDRP”) (“information available at
http://www.neulevel.com/countdown/stop.html, or the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute
Resolution Procedures (“UDRP”) (information is available at
http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-policy-24oct99.htm).
You will not be notified if there are no Applications that exactly
match an IP Claim You submitted in the IP Claim Database.
USE OF THE SERVICE DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT
AN OWNER WILL BE AWARDED THE .BIZ EXTENSION FOR ITS TRADEMARK. AN OWNER THAT WISHES TO OBTAIN A .BIZ
EXTENSION FOR ITS TRADEMARK MUST FILE A DOMAIN NAME
APPLICATION.
DOMAIN NAME APPLICANTS WILL ONLY BE
NOTIFIED OF APPLICATIONS THAT ARE EXACT MATCHES WITH A TRADEMARK IDENTIFIED IN
AN IP CLAIM FORM. REGISTRAR WILL
NOT VERIFY WHETHER A TRADEMARK CLAIMED ON AN IP CLAIM FORM CORRESPONDS WITH AN
ACTUAL, LEGAL OR VALID TRADEMARK, NOR WILL REGISTRAR PROVIDE ANY LEGAL OVERSIGHT
OR ADJUDICATION FOR ANY DISPUTED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IMPLICATED BY THE
SERVICE.
5.
Conduct.
You may access and use the Service for lawful purposes only and you are
solely responsible for the knowledge and adherence to any and all laws,
statutes, rules and regulations pertaining to Your use of the Service. You agree that You will not (i) use
the Service to commit a criminal offence or to encourage conduct that would
constitute a criminal offence or give rise to a civil liability, or otherwise
violate any local state, Federal or international law or regulation;
(ii) upload or otherwise transmit any content that You do not have a right
to transmit under any law or contractual or fiduciary duty; (iii) interfere
or infringe with any trademark or proprietary rights of any other party;
(iv) interfere with the ability of other users to access or use the
Service; (v) claim a relationship with or to speak for any individual,
business, association, institution or other organization for which You are not
authorized to claim such a relationship; (vi) interfere with or disrupt the
Service or servers or networks connected to the Service, or disobey any
requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the
Service; or (vii) reproduce, duplicate, copy, use, distribute, sell, resell
or otherwise exploit for any commercial purposes any portion of the
Service.
6.
Fees.
As consideration for the Service, You agree to pay Registrar, or its
agents or subcontractors, as the case may be, an IP Claim fee for each IP Claim
submitted through the Service by credit card through its online payment
system. Such fee shall be due
immediately and is non-refundable.
Registrar, or its agents or subcontractors, may take all remedies to
collect fees owed. Registrar, or
its agents or subcontractors may require you to submit and pay for each IP Claim
individually or it may allow you store up a certain number of IP Claims before
submitting them for processing.
Once you have stored that number of IP Claims, you may not be able to
store any additional IP Claims and may need to submit them for processing and
pay the applicable fee before obtaining additional storage space. No refunds are permitted.
7.
Agents.
You agree that, if Your agent (e.g., an attorney, employee, etc.)
submits an IP Claim on Your behalf, You are nonetheless bound as a principal by
all Terms of Use herein. Your continued use of the Services shall ratify any
unauthorized actions of Your agent. By acting on Your behalf, Your agent
certifies that he or she is authorized to use the Service on Your behalf, that
he or she is authorized to bind You to these Terms of Use and that he or she has
apprised You of these Terms of Use of this Agreement. In addition, You are responsible for any
errors made by Your agent.
Registrar will not refund fees paid by You or Your agent on Your behalf
for any reason, including, but not limited to, in the event that Your agent
fails to comply with these Terms of Use, Your agent incorrectly provides
information in the IP Claim process or if Your agent changes or otherwise
modifies Your IP Claim incorrectly.
8.
Copyright.
You acknowledge that the Service, any underlying technology used
in connection with the Service, and all software, material, information,
communications, text, graphics, links, electronic art, animations, audio, video,
photos, and other data (collectively, the “Content”) available within the
Service are provided by Registrar or third-party providers and are the
copyrighted works of Registrar and/or such third parties. Except as expressly authorized by
Registrar or such third parties in these Terms of Use or as may be posted on the
Service, You may not copy, reproduce, publish, distribute, modify, create
derivative works of, rent, lease, sell, transfer, display, transmit, compile or
collect in a database, or in any manner commercially exploit any part of the
Content or the Service, in whole or in part. You may not store any significant
portion of any Content or the Service owned by, or licensed to Registrar in any
form, whether archival files, computer-readable files, or any other medium. You also may not “mirror” any Content or
the Service on any other server.
Registrar encourages you to download and print a reasonable number of
copies of an IP Claim for non-commercial, internal use only; provided that (i) any permitted copies
contain, in unmodified form, any copyright or other proprietary rights notices
and an original source attribution to the Service; and (ii) no
modifications are made except as may be expressly provided by Registrar.
9.
Links.
Some links on the Service lead to sites posted by independent site
owners. Because Registrar has no
control over these sites, it cannot be responsible for such sites’ accessibility
via the Internet and does not endorse products, services, or information
provided by such sites. As such,
Registrar shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any
damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with, use or
reliance on any content, goods or services available on or through any other
site. Further, the inclusion of
these links does not imply that the other sites have given permission for
inclusion of these links, or that there is any relationship between Registrar
and the linked sites.
10.
Disclaimer of Warranty, Limitation of
Liability.
YOU AGREE THAT YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR OWN
RISK. NEITHER REGISTRAR NOR ITS
PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, SHAREHOLDERS, MEMBERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES,
AFFILIATES, AGENTS OR SUBCONTRACTORS WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE
UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; NOR DO THEY MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS
THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE OR AS TO THE ACCURACY,
RELIABILITY, OR CONTENT WITHIN THE SERVICE.
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS, “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT
REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSES AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
IN NO EVENT WILL REGISTRAR NOR ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES,
SHAREHOLDERS, MEMBERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS OR
SUBCONTRACTORS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT,
SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES), ARISING OUT YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICE,
INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF REVENUE OR ANTICIPATED PROFITS, LOSS OF
GOODWILL, LOST BUSINESS, LOST DATA, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND
ALL OTHER DAMAGES OR LOSSES THAT RESULT FROM MISTAKES, INACCURATELY ENTERED
DATA, UNAUTHORIZED USE, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, ERRORS, DEFECTS, DELAYS IN
OPERATION, OR ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, WHETHER OR NOT LIMITED TO ACTS OF GOD,
COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE, THEFT, DESTRUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO
INSTITUTIONS RECORDS, PROGRAMS OR SERVICES. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS
OF LIABILITY REPRESENT A REASONABLE ALLOCATION OF RISK.
IN NO EVENT, SHALL REGISTRAR BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY AMOUNT
EXCEEDING THE AMOUNT OF FEES PAID BY YOU FOR THE APPLICABLE IP CLAIM.
11.
Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless
Registrar and its parents, subsidiaries, shareholders, members, officers,
directors, employees, affiliates, agents and subcontractors from any claim or
demand, including reasonable attorney’s fees made by any third party due to or
arising out of Your use of the Service, your breach of these Terms of Use, any
Content submitted to the Service, or any disputes involving the intellectual
property rights of the Trademarks.
12.
Modifications to the
Service. Registrar reserves the right at any time
and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the
Service (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that Registrar will not be
liable to You or to any third party for any modification, suspension, or
discontinuation of the Services.
13.
Termination.
You may discontinue Your participation in and access to the Service at
any time. These Terms of Use will
continue to apply to all past use of the Service by You, even if You are no
longer using the Service. You
acknowledge and agree that Registrar may terminate or block Your use of all or
part of the Service without prior notice for any reason, including, without
limitation, if Registrar believes You have engaged in conduct prohibited by
these Terms of Use. You agree that
upon termination or discontinuance for any reason, may delete all information
related to You on the Service and may bar Your access to and use of the Service.
14.
Governing Law. These Terms of Use shall be governed by
and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario, without
regard to its principles of conflicts of law.
15.
Changes to the Terms of
Use. Registrar reserves the right to modify
the Terms of Use at any time and from time to time. Any modifications shall be effective
upon the posting of the modified Terms of Use at http://ipclaims.neulevel.com/legal/conditions.php. You agree to review these Terms of Use
periodically so that You are aware of any modifications. Your continued use of the Service shall
be deemed Your acceptance of the modified Terms of Use.
16.
Severability.
In the event that any provision of these Terms of Use shall be
unenforceable or invalid under any applicable law or be so held by applicable
court decision, such unenforceability or invalidity shall not render this
Agreement unenforceable or invalid as a whole, and, in such event, such
provision shall be changed and interpreted so as to best accomplish the
objectives of such provision within the limits of applicable law or applicable
court decision.
17.
Third Party Beneficiary. Registry Operator (“NeuLevel”) is an
intended third party beneficiary of these Term and Conditions with rights to
enforce these Terms of Use. You
will cooperate in good faith with NeuLevel or Registrar in investigating
instances of non-compliance with these Terms of Use, if NeuLevel or Registrar
believes in good faith that you are not in compliance with these Terms of Use.
18.
Subcontractors.
In the course of providing the IP Claim Service, Registrar may retain
independent contractors or assign or subcontract to or otherwise have any third
party perform any or all of the IP Claim Service at any time, provided that
Registrar shall continue to remain responsible for full performance of any such
duties to the same extent as if it had performed the IP Claim Service
itself.
19.
Entire Agreement. These Terms of Use completely and
exclusively state the agreement of the parties regarding the subject matter, and
supersede all prior agreements and understandings, whether written or oral, with
respect to the subject matter of these Terms of Use.
20.
Modifications to your
Account.
In order to change any of your account information with Registrar, you
must use the Account Identifier and Password selected when you opened your
account with Registrar. You agree
to safeguard your Account Identifier and Password from any unauthorized
use. In no event shall Registrar be
liable for the unauthorized use or misuse of your Account Identifier or
Password.
21.
Breach.
You agree that failure to abide by an provision of this Agreement, any
operating rule or policy or the Dispute Policy provided by Registrar, may be
considered by Registrar to be a material breach and that Registrar may provide a
written notice, describing the breach, to you. If within thirty (30) calendar days of
the date of such notice, you fail to provide evidence, which is reasonably
satisfactory to Registrar, that you have not breached your obligations under the
Agreement, then Registrar may delete the registration or reservation of your
domain name. Any such breach by you
shall not be deemed to be excused simply because Registrar did not act earlier
in response to that, or any other breach by you.
22.
No Guarantee.
You acknowledge that reservation of your IP Claim name does not confer
immunity from objection to either the registration, reservation, or use of the
domain name.
23.
Right of Refusal. Registrar, in its sole discretion,
reserves the right to refuse to register or reserve your IP Claim name or
register you for other services.
You agree that Registrar shall not be liable to you for loss or damages
that may result from its refusal to register, reserve or delete your IP
Claim.
Registrar reserves the right
to delete or transfer your IP Claim within a thirty (30) day period following
receipt of the application if it believes the IP Claim has been made possible by
a mistake, made either by Registrar or by a third party.
Last Updated: June 25, 2001