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A renewed threat of cybersquatting.

Rather than the options for domain names being limited to ‘.com,’ ‘.net,’ ‘.org,’ and a handful of other generic top level domains (gTLDs), there could soon be hundreds or even thousands of gTLDs available (such as ‘.movie’, ‘.food’ and ‘.lawyer’). The continued introduction of new brings with it a renewed threat of cybersquatting Trade mark owners who wish to protect from the prospect of having their valuable brands registered by cybersquatters should register their trade marks with the new ICANN Trade Mark Clearinghouse – a global repository for trade mark data, the first of its kind in the domain name space.

Darkest just before the dawn.

Trade mark owners can register their trade marks with the Trade Mark Clearinghouse to receive two important brand protection services:

• The “Sunrise Service” gives brand owners a head start to register trade marks in the Clearinghouse as domain names in a new gTLD. It lasts for an initial period of at least 30 days before domain names are offered to the general public. A sunrise period is mandatory for all new gTLDs and having a validated trade mark entry in the Clearinghouse is the minimum requirement to participate in this limited pre-registration period.
• The ‘Trademark Claims Service’ follows the sunrise period. It is a notification service to warn both domain name registrants as well as trade mark holders of possible infringements.  If a person goes ahead and registers the domain name, the Clearinghouse will notify the trade mark owner. This service is provided for 90 days after the release of the new gTLD to the public.

There are registration requirements and fees for using the ICANN Trademark Clearinghouse.

Action for trade mark owners.

It is anticipated that the first new gTLDs will go live later this year. Trade mark owners should carefully consider whether any of the new gTLDs are likely to be relevant to their business and register their trade marks with the Clearinghouse. The same consideration should be made for any further trade marks as they are created.