How to submit a complaint

The dispute argument section of the form is the most important part of your submission. This is your opportunity to share your evidence with the expert.

How an expert may use your dispute argument

If your dispute is referred to an expert, they’ll determine the outcome using the information you share in the dispute, and any documents you supply to support your case. The expert bases their decision on two important factors:

• whether you have rights to a name which is identical or similar to the domain name in dispute
• whether the registration of the domain name by the current registrant is unfair.

To succeed, you must prove that ‘on the balance of probabilities’ both factors are present.

Our Dispute Resolution Service Policy has information on other items to discuss (see paragraph 6). It also gives definitions of terms such as ‘rights in a name’ and ‘unfair registration’

View our Dispute Resolution Service Policy

Format and documents for your dispute

Your argument can be up to 2,000 words long. 

We recommend you write your argument first in a Word document or another text editor, and save it. If you write your argument online and you lose your internet connection, you’ll also lose what you’ve written.

You can support your dispute with other documents, such as:

• letterhead and advertising material showing your use of the name
• birth or marriage certificates for personal names
• trademarks or designs registered with the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand or the Companies Offices.

You can send your other documents to us in hard copy – you don’t have to attach them electronically to the complaint.

You must submit your dispute online and via mail or courier

When you submit your dispute using the online form, you’ll receive an email with a version to print. Then you need to:

1. Print and sign a copy of your complaint
2. Provide copies of any documents that support your argument
3. Mail or courier a copy of your dispute and supporting documents to us at the address we provide. 

What if multiple people support a dispute?

An individual, a group of individuals, or organisations can make a dispute. 

One of you must take responsibility for the dispute. We refer to this person as the lead complainant. 

If a group is submitting a dispute, then each person in the group should sign the dispute form.

Choose which person will become the registrant of the domain name if the resolution of the dispute results in a transfer of the name, and include this information in your dispute. 

We check your dispute: When you submit your dispute, we check it thoroughly to make sure it complies with our policy and procedure. For example, we need to be sure that the dispute: 

• is about a .nz domain name 
• names the current registrant correctly
• is in the correct format, signed, and there are four copies of the dispute and supporting documents.  

If your dispute doesn’t comply, we’ll send it back to you. You have 3 days to correct it and return it to us. If you don’t meet the deadline, the complaint will be withdrawn, but you can submit another dispute.

The dispute goes to the registrant: Once we have a valid dispute, we send it to the current registrant of the domain name. We give them correspondence explaining what is happening, our brochure describing the Dispute Resolution Service, and a copy of the Dispute Resolution Service Policy.

Every time we correspond with the current registrant, we’ll send a copy of that correspondence to the dispute. Similarly, all correspondence with the complainant will be copied to the current registrant. If an expert is appointed to determine the dispute, the expert will receive a copy of all correspondence sent during the process.

If the party submits a response, you will be given an opportunity to submit a reply. 

If they do not submit a response or following your opportunity to file a response, you will be able to proceed to Expert Determination following the payment of the determination fee.