http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-30nov12-en.htm Trademark Clearinghouse "Strawman Solution" Comment/Reply Periods (*) Important Information Links Comment Open: 30 November 2012 Comment Close: 21 December 2012 Close Time (UTC): 23:59 UTC Public Comment Announcement<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-30nov12-en.htm> Reply Open: 22 December 2012 To Submit Your Comments (Forum)<mailto:tmch-strawman@icann.org> Reply Close: 11 January 2013 View Comments Submitted<http://forum.icann.org/lists/tmch-strawman/> Close Time (UTC): 23:59 UTC Report of Public Comments Brief Overview Originating Organization: ICANN Staff Categories/Tags: * Top-level Domains * Intellectual Property Purpose (Brief): The Trademark Clearinghouse facilitates the protection of trademark rights during the initial allocation and registration periods for domain names in new generic top level domains (new gTLDs). All new gTLD registries will be required to use Clearinghouse data to ensure that a set of mandatory trademark rights protection mechanisms are applied to all new domain registrations occurring in at least the first 90 days of domain registration. Following discussions at the Toronto meeting, ICANN met with a group of stakeholder representatives to complete implementation discussions on the Trademark Clearinghouse and its associated rights protection mechanisms. Among other subjects, these implementation meetings addressed the recent IPC/BC proposal for Improvements and Enhancements to the RPMs for new gTLDs<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/correspondence/metalitz-to-pritz...> [PDF, 68 KB]. Out of discussions evaluating the merits of these recommendations, the group produced at a strawman solution to address the concerns of affected stakeholders. This strawman solution is being posted for public comment. One element of the IPC/BC proposal that was not included in the strawman solution concerned a proposal for a "Limited Preventative Registration" mechanism, which attempts to address concerns related to solutions to the second level defensive registration issue that did not achieve consensus among the participants in the implementation meetings. Although this revised proposal is not included in the strawman solution, this proposal is also being posted for public comment to determine whether it should also be considered along with the strawman solution. Current Status: The Strawman Proposal is the result of collaboration among the participants of the post-Toronto TMCH implementation meetings. The Limited Preventative Registration Proposal is developed by and supported by the BC/IPC. In addition to the public comment period, ICANN is also seeking policy implementation guidance from the GNSO Council in relation to both of these proposals. Next Steps: Comments will be summarized and analyzed, and revisions to the relevant procedures may be considered based on the feedback received in this public comment period and from the GNSO Council. Staff Contact: Karen Lentz Email: karen.lentz@icann.org<mailto:karen.lentz@icann.org?subject=More%20information%20on%20the%20%20Trademark%20Clearinghouse%20Strawman%20Solution%20public%20comment%20period> Detailed Information Section I: Description, Explanation, and Purpose Out of the recent Clearinghouse implementation discussions, a strawman solution has been produced to balance and address the concerns of affected stakeholders. This strawman solution is being posted for public comment. This includes: * A requirement for 30 days notice in advance of each new gTLD sunrise period. * An extension of the required Trademark Claims service to the first 90 days of general registration. * A lightweight "Claims 2" period of 6-12 months that is an additional fee-based option for rights holders. * Inclusion of domain names previously determined to have been abusively registered or used in both Trademark Claims services. One element of the IPC/BC proposal that was not included in the strawman solution concerned a proposal for a "Limited Preventative Registration" mechanism. This revised mechanism is proposed by the IPC/BC to address concerns related to solutions for second level defensive registrations that did not achieve consensus among the participants in the implementation meeting. The Limited Preventative Registration proposal is also being posted for public comment to determine whether it should be considered along with the strawman solution. Section II: Background The Trademark Clearinghouse facilitates the protection of trademark rights during the initial allocation and registration periods for domain names in new generic top level domains (new gTLDs). All new gTLD registries will be required to use Clearinghouse data to ensure that a set of mandatory trademark rights protection mechanisms are applied to all new domain registrations occurring in at least the first 90 days of domain registration. These mechanisms are described in the Applicant Guidebook<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb> for new gTLD applicants. Following discussions at the Toronto meeting, ICANN met with a group of stakeholder representatives to complete implementation discussions on the Trademark Clearinghouse and its associated rights protection mechanisms. Among other subjects, these implementation meetings addressed the recent IPC/BC proposal for Improvements and Enhancements to the RPMs for new gTLDs<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/correspondence/metalitz-to-pritz...> [PDF, 68 KB]. Section III: Document and Resource Links Public Comment is being sought on the following documents: * Summary of TMCH Strawman Solution<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/trademark-clearinghouse/strawman-solution...> [PDF, 254 KB] * Description of the IPC/BC Proposal for Limited Preventative Registrations<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/trademark-clearinghouse/ipc-bc-proposal-l...> [PDF, 26 KB] Section IV: Additional Information * http://blog.icann.org/2012/11/building-a-secure-and-reliable-trademark-clear... * http://blog.icann.org/2012/11/trademark-clearinghouse-update/ * http://blog.icann.org/2012/11/a-follow-up-to-our-trademark-clearinghouse-mee... * http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/correspondence/metalitz-to-pritz... [PDF, 68 KB] * http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/trademark-clearinghouse * http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb (*) Comments submitted after the posted Close Date/Time are not guaranteed to be considered in any final summary, analysis, reporting, or decision-making that takes place once this period lapses. Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org