ICANN News Alert Public Comment: IRT Final Report on Trademark Protection in New gTLDs 29 May 2009 The Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT) posted its Final Report on Trademark Protection in New gTLDs [PDF, 300K]. The IRT (Members of the IRT are listed here [PDF, 88K]) was formed by ICANN's Intellectual Property Constituency in accordance with the 6 March, 2009 ICANN Board resolution (http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-06mar09.htm). The resolution was in response to the request by the community seeking solutions for potential issues for trademark holders in the implementation of new gTLDs. The team reflects experiential and geographic diversity and is comprised of 18 members and two alternates. The IRT team participated in numerous teleconferences and several face-to-face meetings in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, California, over a two month period. The resulting recommendations report on Trademark Protection Issues identifies several proposed solutions, including: a.. IP Clearinghouse, Globally Protected Marks List and associated Rights Protection Mechanisms, and standardized pre-launch rights protection mechanisms; b.. Uniform Rapid Suspension System; c.. Post delegation dispute resolution mechanisms; d.. Whois requirements for new TLDs; and e.. Use of algorithm in string confusion review during initial evaluation. In the process of developing its recommendations, the IRT consulted with WIPO and the broader community, and evaluated the public comments received in response to the posting of the Draft IRT Report [PDF, 431K] on 24 April, 2009. These comments are posted at http://forum.icann.org/lists/irt-draft-report/. In addition, several community members who had submitted substantive comments and proposals on trademark protection in new TLDs were invited to participate in the IRT meeting held on 11 May, 2009 in San Francisco. This Final IRT Report will be posted for a thirty (30) day comment period that closes on 29 June, 2009. Comments can be sent to irt-final-report@icann.org and reviewed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/irt-final-report. The community will have additional opportunity to discuss the IRT proposal in an open forum discussion at the Sydney Meeting and in public consultations to be scheduled in July and August 2009. These consultations will take place in diverse geographic regions, and will provide a forum for ICANN to hear from the community on the effectiveness of proposals that address the overarching issues submitted by the IRT and others. For additional information: WIKI for Overarching Issues discussions: https://st.icann.org/new-gtld-overarching-issues/index.cgi?new_gtld_overarch.... New gTLD Page: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign up for ICANN's Monthly Magazine