ICANN have announced that the Trademark Clearinghouse for trademark holders will open on the 26th March 2013.
The Trademark Clearinghouse (TCH) will allow trademark holders to protect their intellectual property throughout the New gTLD delegation process. As a domain reseller you should be learning as much about this process as possible, as it’s something your clients are sure to be interested in!
Companies and individuals will apply to the TCH to have their trademark protected. If their application is approved then they will have access to a range of services which will prevent cybersquatting on any of their trademarked terms in the New gTLD space . This should reduce the number of UDRP or URS cases that have to be processed dramatically.
The Trademark Clearinghouse is comprised of two different parts:
1. The Trademark Validation Process.
As of 26th March 2013, trademark holders can submit their application to have their trademark protected to the TCH. (http://trademark-clearinghouse.com/). The company responsible for this part of the process is Deloitte Enterprise Risk Services. They will ensure that the trademark application is valid and that the right holder definitely has rights over the terms they have applied for.
2. Database Administration.
IBM, the IT giant, will run the TCH database. Evidently this is going to be a huge task as a lot of data will have to be collected and stored by IBM to ensure that the process runs smoothly and that thorough checks can be performed. This data will also be used in the Sunrise Period of New gTLDs to help protect the rights of trademark holders. This database will become available to relevant parties later this year.
There are a number of benefits to registering your trademark in TCH. Firstly, Sunrise periods will allow trademark holders to register their relevant domains without question. This will apply across the New gTLD process. Previously this trademark validation would have occurred on a per TLD basis.
Also, trademark holders will also receive notifications if and when a domain name containing or similar to, one of their trademark is registered. This should help holders identify cyber squatters early and reduce the time needed for UDRP and URS cases.
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