National Arbitration Forum to Administer .pro Internet Domain Dispute Cases

Minneapolis, MN, May 08, 2006 --(PR.com)-- The National Arbitration Forum now administers .pro disputes under the Qualification Challenge Policy (QCP).  The QCP combines the Rules for Qualification Challenge Policy provided by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the National Arbitration Forum’s Rules.  This system creates a fair and cost-effective approach for resolving disputes concerning the qualifications of a registrant as a professional when they have registered a .pro suffix.

According to Registry Pro, the registry operator for the .pro domain names, .pro domain names are available for registration by any member of the legal, medical, certified public accounting or engineering fields.  To register a .pro domain name, a party must certify that it is a professional in the field for which it is applying for the domain name.  The primary registrations are for those such as: name.pro, name.law.pro, name.med.pro, name.cpa.pro, name.eng.pro, name.jur.pro and name.bar.pro.

“.pro domain names are becoming more commonly used among professionals and professional organizations,” said Kristine F. Dorrain, Internet Legal Counsel for the National Arbitration Forum.  “The QCP is an important policy and is in place to allow anyone to challenge a .pro registration, regardless of trademark rights, to ensure that the integrity of the .pro domain names remains for those that do meet the registration qualifications.”

The National Arbitration Forum Rules provide for the appointment of the arbitrator(s), the timing and deadlines associated with the process, the rules surrounding communications between parties and arbitrators and the fee structure.

To challenge a .pro domain name, a party can either file a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), which is the most commonly used dispute resolution policy and is available to any complainant with trademark rights in a Registered Item or file a complaint under the Qualification Challenge Policy using the respective model forms on the National Arbitration Forum’s website.  For more information and model forms, visit http://www.adrforum.com/domains/.

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