Domain Names, Trademarks & Cyber-grabs at ICANN Conference– Saper Law To Serve as Trademark Clearinghouse Agent
Always on the “cutting edge” of Internet and Intellectual Property Law, attorneys from Saper Law attended this year’s international ICANN conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ICANN (which stands for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the international organization that is responsible for making rules surrounding internet domain names – for example, “www.saperlaw.com” is a domain name.
ICANN created and promulgates the rules for the private domain registrar market (the companies who assign domain names for a fee). In addition, ICANN sets forth a uniform policy to resolve conflicts that arise over the ownership of disputed domain names. ICANN is also responsible for the introduction of new domains: “internationalized” domain names that allow for non-Latin scripts to be used, and new “generic top-level-domains” (gTLDs) to co-exist with the existing familiar “.com,” “.net,” and “.org” gTLDs.
There are now so many domain names that have been registered for the current batch of top level domains that we are running out of functionally useful names for businesses and individuals to use. ICANN is now evaluating applications for new gTLDs, and as a result the internet may look very differently than it does today – many gTLDs such as “.today,” “.technology” and “.graphics” are currently in their sunrise periods and are rapidly becoming available!
To prevent an internet “land grab” by cyber-squatters (individuals or organizations who buy up domain names and try to sell them to legitimate rights-holders for a premium), ICANN has designated Trademark Clearinghouse to oversee a “sunrise period” to allow legitimate trademark holders an advance opportunity to claim names that correspond to their marks. This sunrise period will allow rights-holders to assert their rights over a particular name before it becomes available for registration by the general public. By registering with the Trademark Clearinghouse, a rights-holder will also automatically be notified if another party registers a name that may be infringing on its trademark.
Saper Law is in the process of becoming a designated agent with Trademark Clearinghouse, and can help you or your business protect your rights as the new gTLDs come online. Whether you are seeking to protect your existing brand with the new Trademark Clearinghouse system, or you would like to register a name in accordance with the new rules, contact Saper Law to understand how this new internet real estate affects your business.
