Today ICANN published the final Rights Protection Mechanism (RPM) Requirements for new gTLD registries, that enables trademark holders to protect their rights during the Domain Name System expansion.
A set of trademark protections were developed by the ICANN community for incorporation into the New gTLD Program and include both trademark claims and sunrise services, which are required for all new gTLDs. These final RPM Requirements are part of all Registry Agreements and include practical details of implementing sunrise services and claims services processes.
A draft version of the RPM Requirements was published in April 2013 for community discussion and input. I
ICANN requested and considered input to this document on multiple occasions.
This final version reflects significant changes based on stakeholder input received during the ICANN meeting in Beijing in April, an open consultation conference call attended by more than 50 participants in April, comments provided by various individuals and stakeholder groups in May and June, continuing discussions during the ICANN meeting in Durban in July, and a formal public comment period during August and September.
The feedback received encompassed a range of views, and ICANN has carefully weighed the inputs from all stakeholders to arrive at a balanced outcome that supports the objectives of effective TLD launches with robust trademark protections.
Here are some of the highlights:
Sunrise Period. The Trademark Clearinghouse will provide various services to facilitate the Sunrise Periods (as defined in Section 2.2.1) of new gTLD registries (the “Sunrise Services”). One of the Sunrise Services is to allow holders of marks (“Trademark Holders”) that have been verified by the Trademark Clearinghouse (such marks, “Trademark Records”) and have met the eligibility requirements for the Sunrise Services as verified by the Trademark Clearinghouse (“Sunrise-Eligible Rights Holders”) an opportunity to register domain names in new gTLD registries prior to the start of General Registration (as defined in Section 3.2.1) of domain names in the TLD. For purposes of these TMCH Requirements, “General Registration” in a TLD is deemed to occur on the first day following the Sunrise Period in which domain names are generally made available to all registrants that are qualified to register domain names within the TLD.
2.1 Notice of Registration Periods.
2.1.1 If Registry Operator’s Sunrise policies permit Registry Operator to allocate, assign, designate or otherwise earmark (referred to herein as “Allocate”, “Allocated” and “Allocation”) or register any Sunrise Registration prior to the end of the Sunrise Period (i.e., Registry Operator MAY offer Sunrise Registrations (as defined in Section 2.2.1) on a “first-come, first-served” basis or any other time-based Allocation or registration process) (a “Start-Date Sunrise”), Registry Operator MUST provide the following information (collectively, the “TLD Startup Information”) to ICANN and the TMCH Sunrise and Claims Operator at least thirty (30) calendar days in advance of the date the Sunrise Period for the TLD is scheduled to start.…
