http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-7-24sep12-en.htm Trademark Clearinghouse Update: Implementation Material for Public Comment 24 September 2012 Updated 25 September 2012 The Trademark Clearinghouse is one of several important enhanced rights protection mechanisms that have been built into the New gTLD Program. The Clearinghouse will accept and authenticate rights information, and will support both trademark claims and sunrise services, required in all new gTLDs. Today, ICANN is publishing two explanatory memoranda related to the Trademark Clearinghouse for a 45-day public comment period: 1. Implementing the Proof of Use Verification<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/trademark-clearinghouse/proof-of-use-24se...> [PDF, 176 KB] - This memo describes the procedures to be used by the Clearinghouse to verify proof of use associated with a trademark where requested. 2. Implementing the Matching Rules<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/trademark-clearinghouse/matching-rules-24...> [PDF, 194 KB] - This memo provides the detailed explanation of how a "match" is determined between a trademark record and a domain name, for purposes of the sunrise and claims processes. The public comment period opened 24 September 2012 and will close on 7 November 2012 at 23:59 UTC. To access the public comment forum see http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/tmch-docs-24sep12-en.htm. In addition to the explanatory memoranda above, the current draft version of the Trademark Clearinghouse Requirements<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/trademark-clearinghouse/draft-tmch-requir...> [PDF, 1.285 MB] is available for review. This Requirements document<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/trademark-clearinghouse/draft-tmch-requir...> [PDF, 1.285 MB] details the responsibilities of the Trademark Clearinghouse provider, expanding upon the Clearinghouse Request for Information (RFI) to define the specific requirements of the Clearinghouse at a detailed level. It is informed by the gTLD Applicant Guidebook<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb>, as well as inputs from the Implementation Assistance Group (IAG)<https://community.icann.org/display/cctrdmrkclrnghsiag/Home> and other community discussions. Note that discussions on technical implementation<http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/tmch-tech/> of some Clearinghouse processes are continuing, and a volunteer group is working to develop possible alternative models for sunrise and trademark claims services for community feedback. These discussions are not currently captured in the requirements. Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org