[GNSO-RPM-WG] Q#8

Kathy Kleiman kathy at kathykleiman.com
Wed Sep 18 16:33:07 UTC 2019


Claudio and All,

For those who may not be able to follow all of the messages, could you 
send a full set of what you are thinking of for new language/Q#8?  At 
least two Pauls have commented, so I am not sure what you are 
referencing. Having it all in one place would be useful.

Tx, Kathy


<<Rebecca, all,

>
> I support John's proposal below as the simplest approach, with Paul's 
> language about 3.2.4 being the qualifying text for the inclusion of 
> GIs, along with a provision this IP database will be centralized for 
> all new gTLD registries.
>
> Rebecca - you asked about the supporting rationale in a recent note, 
> so I would like to address your question.
>
> The purpose is to avoid creating a scenario of having 300 (or pick 
> some number) of ancillary databases, each requiring separate 
> submissions and validations. Again, I say this because Mary 
> confirmed that currently the ancillary database concept is 
> registry-specific. The main TMCH is not registry-specific, all new 
> gTLD registries connect to the database in a unified manner.
>
> For the sake of providing examples, <.tea> launches as a new gTLD in 
> the next round; that registry will need to expend time and resources 
> to collaborate with Deloitte to establish a new ancillary database, 
> and the regional authority/producers of DARJEELING TEA, (under the 
> current model) would be required to submit the GI registration to the 
> ancillary database of <.tea> and have it validated at that time.
>
> In the same round, <.चाय> launches ("tea" in the Hindi script - a 
> language spoken in India, as an IDN), the current model requires 
> this same (or different) registry operator to create another new 
> ancillary database, with new submissions of registrations, 
> additional validations, etc.
>
> <.drinks>, <.beverages>, <.web>, <.internet>, etc.. the list goes on 
> and on, for every new gTLD there has to be separate ancillary 
> databases. Each registry and registrar will then have to allocate 
> resources to promote the registry-specific database to IP owners 
> around the world, and connect to the database from a technical level. 
> I can only imagine the confusion and unnecessary costs that this 
> approach would impose on contracted parties and the public.
>
> It would also defeat the purpose and benefit of a having a 
> centralized, unified system that simplifies recordation and 
> validation from both an administrative and technical basis for all 
> parties.
>
> The Limited Registration Period is an existing RPM that functions 
> similar to Sunrise, but takes place after the Sunrise Period, during 
> which time these 3.2.4. marks can be protected. Since it is already 
> permitted, I propose that we specify there is a voluntary option for a 
> IP Claims notice for these 3.2.4 marks (identical to the TM Claims 
> notice, i.e. using the same language).
>
> These are completely voluntary RPMs for contracted parties - 
> especially, for those that operate in jurisdictions where GIs are 
> protected under local laws, and/or for those which decide to take 
> proactive measures to prevent abusive registrations in their TLD(s) to 
> have a safe namespace for their users. Since registries are already 
> allowed to create voluntary RPMs, the proposal is based on improving 
> things from a technical and administrative basis, in a manner that is 
> fully consistent with the law, and with the overall goal of protecting 
> consumers and promoting trust in new gTLDs.
>
> Finally, as Brian noted there is an existing database of GIs, managed 
> by OriGin, which Deloitte/IBM can interface with to help simplify the 
> process, which is an idea we can include for public comment in 
> association with the main recommendation.
>
> All we need to do is agree that this approach makes sense from a 
> policy perspective, and the IRT that follows this PDP can develop the 
> appropriate implementation procedures to put everything into place.
>
> Please let me know of any questions.
>
> Best regards,
> Claudio
>
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 17, 2019 at 5:23 PM John McElwaine 
> <john.mcelwaine at nelsonmullins.com 
> <mailto:john.mcelwaine at nelsonmullins.com>> wrote:
>
>     I would propose simplifying this a bit.  The issue that we have is
>     that Deloitte should not be placing “other marks that constitute
>     intellectual property” in the “Clearinghouse”.  The Trademark
>     Clearinghouse is more than just to service Sunrise and Claims
>     services.  See AGB TMCH Section 1.2 (“The Clearinghouse will be
>     required to separate its two primary functions: (i) authentication
>     and validation of the trademarks in the Clearinghouse; and (ii)
>     serving as a database to provide information to the new gTLD
>     registries to support pre-launch Sunrise or Trademark Claims
>     Services. Whether the same provider could serve both functions or
>     whether two providers will be determined in the tender process.”) 
>       Unfortunately, Section 3.2 muddies the waters and lists “other
>     marks” as being capable of inclusion “in the Clearinghouse”.
>
>     However, the purpose behind Section 3.2.2 is provided a bit more
>     light in Section 3.6: “Data supporting entry into the
>     Clearinghouse of marks that constitute intellectual property of
>     types other than those set forth in sections 3.2.1-3.2.3 above
>     shall be determined by the registry operator and the Clearinghouse
>     based on the services any given registry operator chooses to
>     provide.”  With respect to such other IP, the “Trademark
>     Clearinghouse Service Provider may provide ancillary services, as
>     long as those services and _any data used for those services are
>     kept separate from the Clearinghouse database_.”
>
>     Thus, as I mentioned on the call, a simple solution is that we
>     recommend “other marks that constitute intellectual property
>     (under 3.2.2 and 3.6)” currently in the Trademark Clearinghouse
>     must be placed into a separate ancillary database by the operator
>     and not in the Trademark Clearinghouse.
>
>     John
>
>     *From:* GNSO-RPM-WG <gnso-rpm-wg-bounces at icann.org
>     <mailto:gnso-rpm-wg-bounces at icann.org>> *On Behalf Of *Tushnet,
>     Rebecca
>     *Sent:* Tuesday, September 17, 2019 4:24 PM
>     *To:* claudio di gangi <ipcdigangi at gmail.com
>     <mailto:ipcdigangi at gmail.com>>; Corwin, Philip
>     <pcorwin at verisign.com <mailto:pcorwin at verisign.com>>
>     *Cc:* gnso-rpm-wg at icann.org <mailto:gnso-rpm-wg at icann.org>
>     *Subject:* Re: [GNSO-RPM-WG] Q#8
>
>     *◄External Email►*- From: gnso-rpm-wg-bounces at icann.org
>     <mailto:gnso-rpm-wg-bounces at icann.org>
>
>     I'm still quite factually confused by this proposal.  "Accepted in
>     the Clearinghouse" until now has meant "gets Claims and is
>     eligible for Sunrise upon proof of use." It appears to me that
>     this is proposing a nontrivial technical change (at the very least
>     the implementation of a new coding category, which will have to be
>     retrofitted to existing entries), without evidence either of its
>     need or its feasibility.
>
>     Relatedly: If GIs are to be treated so differently, why put them
>     in the Clearinghouse,  given that there is consensus that they
>     shouldn't be used for Claims or Sunrise? Kathy's clarifying
>     language allows for registries etc. to adopt various business
>     models and for Deloitte and other operators to run systems that
>     facilitate those business models, including the ones Claudio
>     hypothesizes.  (And I'm not sure we should hand Deloitte an extra
>     business that would make competition in the market for providing
>     additional services less likely.)
>
>     Rebecca Tushnet
>
>     Frank Stanton Professor of First Amendment Law, Harvard Law School
>     703 593 6759
>
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>     *From:*GNSO-RPM-WG <gnso-rpm-wg-bounces at icann.org
>     <mailto:gnso-rpm-wg-bounces at icann.org>> on behalf of claudio di
>     gangi <ipcdigangi at gmail.com <mailto:ipcdigangi at gmail.com>>
>     *Sent:* Tuesday, September 17, 2019 3:38 PM
>     *To:* Corwin, Philip <pcorwin at verisign.com
>     <mailto:pcorwin at verisign.com>>
>     *Cc:* gnso-rpm-wg at icann.org <mailto:gnso-rpm-wg at icann.org>
>     <gnso-rpm-wg at icann.org <mailto:gnso-rpm-wg at icann.org>>
>     *Subject:* Re: [GNSO-RPM-WG] Q#8
>
>     thanks, Phil. Very helpful as always.
>
>     I see your point that proposal #1 and #2 overlap, in the sense
>     that they both deal with whether GIs should be recorded in the
>     TMCH. My proposal (#3) integrates the other two proposals.
>
>     My concern during the call was that I felt a premature signal
>     being expressed that agreement was being quickly being reached
>     after several members spoke (and I was one of them), while several
>     other members asked clarifying questions. I may be mistaken, but
>     don't recall Jason or Rebecca objecting to the thoughts I
>     expressed during discussion on proposal #1.
>
>     If I am mistaken, and there was a meaningfully larger list of
>     proponents for proposal #1 expressed on the call, I am happy to be
>     corrected - please let me know.
>
>     From my perspective, the majority of members did not express a
>     position while the discussion was taking place, so I
>     was left confused under what basis that statement that consensus
>     was reached was based upon.
>
>     This is also why I recently expressed not having the benefit of
>     the informal poll that you conducted two weeks ago. Can we please
>     do this tomorrow to get a better sense of where folks stand?
>
>     On this same line of reasoning, I was concerned that we did not
>     have full participation on the last week's call (where any
>     registries and registrars on the call?). Moreover, I indicated
>     last week that I had off-line discussions with WG members who
>     expressed support for my suggested approach, but were not able to
>     join the call, so I was hoping to hear from them on the list prior
>     to Wednesday.
>
>     The transcript and recording were posted by Julie on Friday, 13
>     Sept. so members did not really have much time (Friday and
>     Monday) to reply with input before things (I personally feel)
>     got somewhat short-cut this morning with the
>     posting that expressed here is the consensus view of the WG, along
>     with the associated implementation text.
>
>     My concern when this occurs is it changes the dynamic about how
>     members feel about weighing-in and 'going against the thread' so
>     to speak, and also may create confusion about the accurate state
>     of play.
>
>     In terms of substance and to clarify, my proposal is based on
>     finding common ground and compromise that integrates the two
>     proposals, as per the following:
>
>     1) Going forward, GI are accepted in the Clearinghouse or ONE main
>     ancillary database that all registries/registrars can connect
>     to (which potentially can be integrated with the main external GI
>     database that exists, with Deloitte performing validations);
>
>     2) GIs are NOT protected during the Sunrise or Claims period,
>     which remain for trademarks; which was something that
>     we established during the review of Sunrise and Claims.
>
>     3) the protection of GIs are NOT mandatory for any new gTLD registry
>
>     4) for new gTLD registries that choose and desire to protect GIs
>     (as the current rules permit) because of local laws and/or other
>     reasons, they are protected during the Limited Registration
>     Period, to help prevent abusive registrations before General
>     Availability.
>
>     The rationale for this approach is that GIs are one of the
>     three major forms of IP (patents, trademarks, and GIs) and
>     function as source identifiers for goods and services in a manner
>     that is similar to trademarks (and can be registered as domains in
>     the same manner). For example, GIs are protected in the United
>     States (under the TRIPS agreement) as collective or certification
>     marks, think FLORIDA ORANGES or IDAHO POTATOES.
>
>     But in other countries, outside of the United States, they are
>     protected under local laws that place them on a separate registry,
>     apart from the trademark register.
>
>     Hope this helps clarify status, and thanks for everyone's ongoing
>     contributions.
>
>     Best regards,
>
>     Claudio
>
>     On Tue, Sep 17, 2019 at 1:34 PM Corwin, Philip
>     <pcorwin at verisign.com <mailto:pcorwin at verisign.com>> wrote:
>
>         Claudio—
>
>         This message reflects the views of the co-chairs.
>
>         Q8 and all of its related proposals were extensively discussed
>         on the September 4^th call. The meeting on 11 September was a
>         continued discussion on Q8 and Q7 in case there were further
>         proposals, and the major focus was on Q7 as we had run out of
>         time on the prior call and a new modified proposal had been
>         submitted for discussion.
>
>         As regards Q 8, all of the first three proposals converge in
>         that they would limit the registration of GIs in the TMCH to
>         “marks” of some sort, whether trademarks or collective marks
>         or certification marks; there also seemed to be some
>         recognition and agreement that GIs that did not constitute
>         “marks” could be recorded in an ancillary database for the
>         purpose of assisting certain new gTLDs that recognized and
>         provided some additional consideration to them. It appeared to
>         the co-chairs that restricting TMCH  recordation of GIs to
>         those that constituted “marks” had fairly broad support among
>         WG members participating on the calls.
>
>         In regard to your fourth proposal -- “(1) Add the
>         consideration of GIs to the policy review of the Sunrise and
>         Claims services; and (2) withhold final consideration of the
>         current TMCH proposals relating to GIs, until we conclude the
>         policy review of the new gTLD RPMs (as described in the
>         Charter).” – the Sunrise and Claims reviews have been
>         concluded, and we are now wrapping up (concluding) our review
>         of the new gTLD RPMs. So this proposal no longer seems timely
>         or relevant; but if you wish to amend it and make a specific
>         proposal for the treatment of GIs in the TMCH, tomorrow is the
>         time to make it.
>
>         Finally, as regards your proposal that we withhold a decision
>         until Deloitte participated in a call on this subject, we see
>         no reason to do so as there is no indication that Deloitte has
>         changed its practice in regard to GI recordation since it
>         wrote to the WG two years ago.
>
>         In conclusion, we intend to finish the WG’s consideration of
>         Q8 tomorrow but will facilitate discussion of an amended
>         proposal from you if you wish to offer one.
>
>         Regards,
>
>         Brian
>
>         Philip
>
>         Kathy
>
>         Philip S. Corwin
>
>         Policy Counsel
>
>         VeriSign, Inc.
>
>         12061 Bluemont Way
>         Reston, VA 20190
>
>         703-948-4648/Direct
>
>         571-342-7489/Cell
>
>         /"Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey/
>
>         *From:*GNSO-RPM-WG <gnso-rpm-wg-bounces at icann.org
>         <mailto:gnso-rpm-wg-bounces at icann.org>> *On Behalf Of *claudio
>         di gangi
>         *Sent:* Tuesday, September 17, 2019 11:22 AM
>         *To:* Kathy Kleiman <kathy at kathykleiman.com
>         <mailto:kathy at kathykleiman.com>>
>         *Cc:* gnso-rpm-wg at icann.org <mailto:gnso-rpm-wg at icann.org>
>         *Subject:* [EXTERNAL] Re: [GNSO-RPM-WG] Q#8
>
>         Kathy, all,
>
>         Last week, we spent the first full hour of the call discussing
>         the first Question 8 proposal, and zero minutes on the second
>         proposal on Question #8 (In comparison we spent much time
>         discussing both proposals for question #7).
>
>         I am aware that some members spoke in support of the first
>         proposal (I was on audio only), but do not know how many,
>         while some others did not speak in support, and that we agreed
>         to spend this full week to solicit WG members views on the
>         list before moving forward. This week has not yet concluded
>         (we have through today), yet new language is being posted
>         below now for consideration.
>
>         A few additional points, the week prior Phil conducted an
>         informal poll using the Zoom room functionality, which helped
>         provide transparency on WG members views for consensus
>         building, which was not done last week on Question #8.
>
>         Nor has there been an effort to bring the various proponents
>         together to reach a compromise position, which we recently did
>         in the sprint of the consensus-building process on Question
>         #7, the design mark topic. So I’m not sure why question #8 is
>         being treated so differently in all these various ways (as
>         described above) compared to Question #7.
>
>         Can someone kindly shed some light on this disparity in
>         treatment between the way we are approaching question 7 and
>         question 8?
>
>         Thanks!
>
>         Best regards,
>
>         Claudio
>
>
>
>         On Tuesday, September 17, 2019, Kathy Kleiman
>         <kathy at kathykleiman.com <mailto:kathy at kathykleiman.com>> wrote:
>
>             All,
>
>             Last week we found considerable overlap and common ground
>             on Q#8.  I promised to circulate language sharing that
>             agreement and slightly refining existing proposals.
>
>             Q#8:
>
>             3.2 The standards for inclusion in the Clearinghouse are:
>
>             3.2.1 Nationally or regionally registered word marks from
>             all jurisdictions.
>
>             3.2.2 Any word mark that has been validated through a
>             court of law or other judicial proceeding.
>
>             3.2.3 Any word marks specified in and protected by a
>             statute or treaty /as trademarks /[1]//in effect at the
>             time the mark is submitted to the Clearinghouse for
>             inclusion.
>
>             3.2.4 Other marks that constitute intellectual property.
>             [see below]
>
>             3.2.5 Protections afforded to trademark registrations do
>             not extend to applications for registrations, marks.
>
>             [1] /By "trademarks," the WG means "trademarks, service
>             marks, certification marks and collective marks."/
>
>             For purposes of clarity, separate or ancillary databases
>             of the Trademark Clearinghouse Provider (or another
>             provider) may include other marks, but those databases
>             should not be used for Sunrise or Trademark Claims Notices
>             under the RPMs. Registries may use those separate or
>             ancillary databases to provide additional services but are
>             not required to do so under the RPMs.
>
>             (Appropriate corresponding changes will be percolated
>             across the /Trademark Clearinghouse/ Applicant Guidebook)
>
>             -----------------
>
>             Best, Kathy
>
>
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