Filing and Responding to a complaint

Before filing a complaint, you should make sure that the rules and policies laid down by CIRA might apply in your favour. This can best be done by carefully reading the policies and rules, and studying the case decisions rendered on the various complaints heard and decided to this point.

The decisions rendered by Resolution Canada can be found under the appropriate tag on this site, and all decisions rendered, as well as the rules and policies can be found at the appropriate section of the CIRA website. To see the policies click here.

If you after this feel that you can be successful in a resolution process, you will need to file the required documentation together with the required fees. We ask for a deposit before proceeding in the amount of the maximum fee listed in any particular case, and after the case is heard, we will issue an invoice for the amount of the appropriate fee and disbursements, and either issue a credit or ask for the balance, depending upon whether the case was heard by one adjudicator or three.

Process

If you decide to proceed, either yourself or your lawyer should prepare the proper paperwork and submit it to us. We will then contact CIRA to advise a complaint has been filed, forward a copy of the complaint to the registrant. He will have 20 days to respond, which we can extend for a short period if warranted, and depending on whether a response is submitted or not, we will then put together a panel of either on or three adjudicators to hear the case.

The panel will normally render a decision within 3 weeks, and after a few days for CIRA and others to review the decision, we will advise the complainant and registrant of the decision, and post same on our website.

We have prepared an outline of information required, as well as the pertinent rules from CIRA, for more details you can check the CIRA rules in total by clicking here.

Complaint

The complaint must be filed in accordance with paragraph 3 of the Rules. The following format is intended for the assistance of the parties in providing all the information required, but there are no set rules as to how the information is presented.

You should make sure the following is included:

Complainant:
Address:
Name of contact person:
Telephone:
Fax:
Email:
Preferred method of communication:

and

Registrant:
Address:
Name of contact person:
Telephone:
Fax:
Email:

REGISTERED NAMES IN DISPUTE:

REQUIREMENTS

The Complaint shall a) be submitted in English or French; (b) be submitted in hard copy and, except to the extent not available for Schedules, in electronic form; (c) be accompanied by the Fee (see Schedule of Fees)

In accordance with paragraph 3 of the Rules, the complainant must:

specify the basis on which the Complainant satisfies the CIRA Canadian Presence Requirements for Registrants in respect of the domain name to which each Registration that is subject of the Proceedings relates;
identify the Registrar of record in respect of each Registration at the time the Complaint is submitted.
specify the Marks on which the Complaint is based and, for each Mark, describe the goods, services, business or non-commercial activity, if any, with which the Mark has been or is used by the Complainant, or a predecessor in title, or a licensor or a licensee thereof;
in accordance with the Policy, but without exceeding five thousand (5000) words plus any schedules, describe the particulars of the basis for the Complaint, including in particular:
- Why the Registrant's dot.ca domain name should be considered as Confusingly Similar to the Mark in which the Complainant had Rights prior to the date of registration of the domain name and continues to have such Rights;
- Why the Registrant should be considered as having no legitimate interest in the domain name as described in paragraph 3.6 of the Policy, and
- Why the Registrant should be considered as having registered the domain name in bad faith as described in paragraphs 3.6 and 3.7 of the Policy.
The description should discuss any aspects of paragraph 3.7 and 3.7 of the Policy that may be applicable to the Proceeding;

specify, in accordance with the Policy, the remedy(s) sought;

provide a summary of, and references to, the relevant Canadian law, and if desired, indicate a preference for the application of the laws of a particular Canadian province or a territory;

provide a summary or, and references to, prior decisions in CIRA Proceedings or the dispute resolution proceedings which apply to domain names registered under any other top level domain which the Complainant considers persuasive;

request that the Complaint be submitted for decision in accordance with the Policy and the Resolution Rules;

have any Schedules, together with an index thereto, annexed; and

conclude with the certification of the Complainant in the form set out in Appendix A to the Rules, followed by the signature of the Complainant or its authorized representative

COMPLAINANTS NOMINEES TO PANEL

Complainant may nominate up to five (5) candidates taken from the list of Resolution Canada's Panelists.

COPIES

The Complainant shall submit to the Provider five (5) hardcopies of the Complaint.

COVERSHEET

We also suggest that you include a coversheet along the lines of the one suggested below to ease the process for all:

In The Matter Of A Complaint Pursuant To The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (“CIRA”)
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy And Rules

To the Registrant:

A Proceeding under the Canadian Internet Registry Authority (CIRA) Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and Rules has been initiated against you by the Complainant in respect of domain name(s): firstname.ca, secondname.ca, etc.

The Complainant has elected Resolution Canada Inc. to be the CIRA-approved Dispute Resolution Provider (“Provider”) in this proceeding.

Please note, that within twenty (20) days of the actual or deemed receipt of the Complaint, the Registrant must respond to the Complaint by filing with the Provider a Response in accordance with the Canadian Internet Registry Authority (CIRA) Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and Rules.

Response

If you receive a complaint for a domain name you hold, you are advised to file a response. If you do not, the case will be heard by the panel with input only from the complainant, and while this does not necessarily mean that the panel will side with him, clearly your case should be put to give the panel as much information as possible, from both points of view.

The response must be filed in accordance with paragraph 5 of the Rules. The following form is intended for the assistance of the parties.

REGISTERED NAMES IN DISPUTE

Requirements

The Response shall a) be submitted in English or French; b) be submitted in hard copy and, except to the extent not available for Schedules, in electronic form.

In accordance with paragraph 5 of the Rules, the registrant must:

be in accordance with the Policy, but without exceeding five thousand (5000) words plus any Schedules, specifically to the evidence and the arguments in the Complaint and include reference to any and all bases for the Registrant to maintain the Registration of each domain name in issue, including in particular why the Registrant should be considered as having a legitimate interest in the domain name as described in paragraph 3.6 of the Policy;

provide a summary of, and references to, the relevant Canadian law, and, if desired, indicate a preference for the application of the laws of a particular Canadian province or territory;

provide a summary of, and references to, prior decisions in CIRA Proceedings or the dispute resolution proceedings which apply to domain names registered under any other top level domain, which the Respondent considers persuasive;

at the option of the Registrant, state, but without exceeding one thousand (1000) words plus any Schedules, a claim pursuant to paragraph 4.6 of the Policy for costs of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) incurred by the Registrant in preparing for, and filing material in, the Proceeding and provide particulars of the basis for the claim and receipts or other evidence of the costs;

have any Schedules, together with an index thereto, annexed; and

conclude with the certification of the Registrant in the form set out in Appendix B, followed by the signature of the Registrant or its authorized representative.

REGISTRANT NOMINEES TO PANEL

Registrant may nominate up to five (5) candidates taken from the list of Resolution Canada’s Panelists.

COPIES

The Registrant shall submit to the Provided five (5) hard copies of the Response.