Protect Your Trademark During the Top-Level Domain Expansion
The rights protection was of key concern when forming the New gTLD Program. ICANN met extensively with IP experts and community members to determine how to support trademark holders faced with the largest expansion of the DNS, ever.
The meetings resulted in a 3-pronged approach that provides rights holders with proactive and reactive means of blocking potentially infringing uses in the New gTLD Program. Rights Protection Mechanisms, as they’re collectively known, include the Trademark Clearinghouse, Uniform Rapid Suspension System and Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedures.
So, how can a rights holder take advantage of these advanced New gTLD Program mechanisms?
- Submit Your Mark to the Trademark ClearinghouseThe Trademark Clearinghouse was designed to help rights holders across the globe protect their trademarks across all new gTLDs. It is the first centralized, international repository of trademark data for use with the DNS and it’s relatively easy to use.Register your mark now: http://trademark-clearinghouse.com/
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File a Claim with the Uniform Rapid Suspension System
ICANN is introducing a new system for resolving rights infringement disputes called the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS). It builds upon the existing Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Procedure (UDRP), but provides quicker relief for rights holders experiencing clear-cut cases of infringement in new gTLDs, and it’s less expensive.
Learn how to file a URS claim: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/urs/procedure-01mar13-en.pdf [PDF, 168 KB]
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Initiate the Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure
Trademark infringement is often portrayed as being a Registrant problem (such as typo-squatters). But what if a Registry Operator were to act in bad faith? Right now there are only 22 generic TLDs, but the New gTLD Program could introduce about 1,400 new gTLDs into the DNS.The Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (Trademark PDDRP) is one of three Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedures that were developed to provide those harmed by a new gTLD Registry Operator’s conduct an avenue to file a complaint about that conduct. The Trademark PDDRP generally addresses a Registry Operator’s complicity in trademark infringement on the first or second level of a new gTLD.
Learn how to initiate a claim: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb/pddrp-04jun12-en.pdf [PDF, 181 KB]Introduction of these Rights Protection Mechanisms is just one way that ICANN and the community are laying the foundation for a more mature and expanded Domain Name System industry. The goal is not merely to create new space on the Internet; it’s to create an expansive, more secure space where ideas can flourish. See more