[ICANN]<http://www.icann.org/> News Alert https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2016-07-25-en ________________________________ Draft Report of the Independent Review of the Trademark Clearinghouse Available for Public Comment 25 July 2016 25 July 2016 - ICANN today announced the publication of the Draft Report of the Independent Review of the Trademark Clearinghouse. Specific considerations related to the matching criteria, Trademark Claims service and Sunrise period are assessed in the review, conducted by Analysis Group. Read the report<https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/reviews/tmch/draft-services-review-25jul16-en....> [PDF, 1.15 MB]. The report is available for public comment through 3 September 2016. Feedback will be incorporated into a revised report. Comment on the Draft Report of the Independent Review of the Trademark Clearinghouse<https://www.icann.org/public-comments/tmch-review-2016-07-25-en>. Key Findings: Expanding Matching Criteria to include non-exact matches may be of limited benefit: The dispute rate of completed registrations that are variations of trademark strings is very low. Extending the Trademark Claims Service may have diminishing value: Registrations of names matching trademarks decline after the required 90-day Claims service period ends. Few trademark holders utilize the Sunrise period: Most users of the Trademark Clearinghouse submit proof of use to gain access to the Sunrise period. However, across eligible trademark holders, fewer than 20 percent have used the Sunrise period to date. Additional Information An independent review of the Trademark Clearinghouse was recommended<https://archive.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/gac-comments-new-gtlds-26may11...> [PDF, 110 KB] by the GAC in May 2011 to be completed after the launch of the New gTLD Program. The review is informed by an analysis of Trademark Clearinghouse and third-party data sources, including data collected from stakeholders via interviews and surveys. About ICANN ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and a community with participants from all over the world. ICANN and its community help keep the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It also promotes competition and develops policy for the top-level of the Internet's naming system and facilitates the use of other unique Internet identifiers. For more information please visit: www.icann.org<https://www.icann.org/>.