NEW gTLDs
2. Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Policy (PDDRP)
“ A ‘.BRAND’ RELATES TO ONE PART OF THE NEW GTLD PROGRAMME; THE INTRODUCTION OF BRAND OWNERS OR ORGANISATIONS BEING ABLE TO MANAGE THEIR OWN NAME AS A TOP LEVEL DOMAIN (TLD) NAME.”
At this stage in discussions, key participants, including WIPO and the IRT, have suggested that a PDDRP should only afford trademark holders the right to proceed against a registry operator if it has acted in bad faith, with the intent to profit from the systemic registration of infringing domain names (or systemic cybersquatting) or it has otherwise set out to use the gTLD for an improper purpose. It is not intended that a trademark holder can hold a registry operator accountable simply because it has or knows of infringing domain names within its gTLD.
3. Protection of country and territory names in the new gTLD
All new gTLD registry operators are required to provide certain minimum protections for country and territory names, including an initial reservation requirement and establishment of applicable rules and procedures for release of these names.
Project brand 3. Objection-based process
Tis will enable rights holders to demonstrate that a proposed gTLD would infringe their legal rights.
4. Uniform Rapid Suspension System Te model provides an expedited take-down procedure for clear-cut cases of trademark infringement.
5. Trademark Clearing House (see post registration)
Brand owners should note that, currently, there is no intention to operate a notification system to flag potential infringements to brand owners.
Once a .brand TLD is active, there are some further steps that all .brand owners must comply with to ensure sufficient protection is provided to registered trademarks with regard to the registering of domain names on the .brand TLD. At a minimum, these include:
1. Either a sunrise period or a trademark claims service during the start-up phases for registration in the TLD
Te sunrise period allows eligible rights holders an early opportunity to register names in the TLD. Te trademark claims service provides notice to potential registrants of existing trademark rights, as well as notice to rights holders of relevant names registered.
www.worldipreview.com
Any organisation considering applying for a .brand TLD should set up a full project management team to evaluate the opportunities and risks involved to their business.
Key issues to be assessed include: Associated risk:
• Damaging reputation • Costs
• Impact on the company’s core business and operational running
Costs:
• Fees to ICANN • Total ongoing business management costs • Internal/external development costs • ROI
Logistics:
• Roles and responsibilities when running a registry • ICANN compliance • Registry/registrar agreements • Registry service level agreements (SLAs) • DNS stability • Front-end registration system • API for registrar
Opportunities:
• ROI • Online growth of brand • Brand protection • Competitor advantage.
Ben Anderson is Group NBT’s domain name expert. He joined the Group in 2003 following an illustrious career on the West Coast of America developing DRM solutions for major film and music companies. Anderson is an active participant of various interest groups, including sitting on the INTA ccTLD subcommittee, and is a member of the ICANN Vertical Integration Working Group and the Generic Names Supporting Organisation.
An organisation should allow a minimum of four months for the planning, evaluating and application process of setting up a .brand TLD. Tere are a number of companies offering a specialist consultancy service to guide an organisation through the process. Tis would be right through to submitting an application should the organisation decide that applying for a .brand TLD is the appropriate course of action for them.
A New gTLD Budget was published on October 22, 2010. Te main change from the original proposed budget is the deployment costs, which increased from $2.6 to $4 million. Two major additions include funds for non-financial support of applicants as recommended by the applicant support working group and funding for root zone stability efforts.
According to a resolution agreed at the ICANN board meeting on October 28, ICANN has named May 30, 2011 as the planned launch date for the new gTLDs. Te next ICANN meeting will take place in Cartagena, Colombia, in December 2010. Te proposed final (fiſth) version of the Applicant Guidebook is planned to be released for public comment on November 9. Tere is expected to be a final version of the guidebook in January 2011. Tere is a four-month marketing and communication campaign planned to support the launch of the new gTLDs.
Ben Anderson is the domain operations manager at Group NBT. He can be contacted at:
ben.anderson@
groupnbt.com
World Intellectual Property Review November/December 2010
75
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