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<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Dear all,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Following on from the Working Group call earlier today and to facilitate your deliberations as to what ought to constitute a “word mark” for purposes of inclusion in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), staff
thought it might be helpful to provide you with the specific references from which our remarks concerning the purpose and remit of the TMCH were drawn. We hope that this information is useful, and further underscores why it is likely critical for the Working
Group to agree on what, specifically, the term “word mark” covers in order to develop a clear policy recommendation for this topic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">From ICANN Org’s 2015 paper consolidating community feedback on the RPMs developed for the 2012 New gTLD Program (emphasis added):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“The [TMCH] Guidelines are designed for review of trademark submissions according to a standard that does not favor one jurisdiction over another.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3"><b><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">While there is no generally accepted or international definition of a word mark, there are multiple laws that distinguish between a mark that is
comprised of characters versus a mark that protects the manner in which those characters are presented.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">There are over 100 definitions of a “word mark” across trademark jurisdictions.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The territorial component of trademark rights does not lend itself to any one definition of universal applicability.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">A review of UDRP case law indicates that
<b><i>the analysis of whether a domain name is confusingly similar in terms of a mark that incorporates graphic or design elements occurs on a case by case basis.</i></b>”<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">From ICANN Org’s Explanatory Memorandum on implementing the matching rules (September 2012, updated July 2016), emphasis added:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo5"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“Trademarks can include elements that are not able to be represented in the DNS at the present time. For example, trademarks in many jurisdictions around
the world can include colors, punctuation, and design elements such as graphical images …
<b><i>It is explicitly beyond the scope and remit of the Clearinghouse to perform legal analysis, provide legal advice or apply discretionary assessments as to the range of domain names that a party owning given a certain trademark may or should be interested
in protecting</i></b>.” <o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">From Deloitte’s responses to the Working Group’s questions (2017):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo4"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Deloitte explained how it conducts its checks as follows:
<i>“For those marks that to do not exclusively consist of letters, words, numerals or special characters, the verification agents will verify the trademark name based upon the image on the trademark certificate. In the event that there is any doubt about the
order in which the characters appear, the description provided by the Trademark office will prevail. In the event no description is provided, such Trademark records will be allocated to a Deloitte internal team of specialists with thorough knowledge of both
national and regional trademark law who will conduct independent research on how the trademark is used, e.g. check website, or they may request that the trademark holder or agent provide additional documentary evidence on how the Trademark is used.”</i><o:p></o:p></span>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="circle">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l3 level2 lfo4"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Note that the TMCH Guidelines specifies, in Section 5.2.1, that:
<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
</li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.0in"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“For marks that do not exclusively consist of letters, words, numerals, special characters: The recorded name of the Trademark is an identical match to the reported name as long
as the name of the Trademark includes letters, words, numerals, keyboard signs, and punctuation marks (“Characters”) that are: </span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="circle">
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="square">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l3 level3 lfo4"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">predominant; and </span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l3 level3 lfo4"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">clearly separable or distinguishable from the device element; and </span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l3 level3 lfo4"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">all predominant characters are included in the Trademark Record submitted to the Clearinghouse in the same order they appear in the
</span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">mark”. <o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo4"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">In response to the WG’s question as to how many device or image marks have been validated, Deloitte’s response was that:
<i>“As there is no unilateral international definition of different types of trademarks and the TMCH was designed as a global trademark database covering all jurisdictions the TMCH cannot make a distinction in types of marks and therefor no data is collected
on the types of marks submitted in the TMDB”</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Thanks and cheers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Julie, Ariel & Mary<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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