[Tmch-iag] IAG - Verisign's Comments on P1 and P2

[Indelicarto, Thomas]

We provide the following comments on the issues presented in P1 and P2 as set forth on ICANN's discussion document entitled "New gTLD Trademark Clearinghouse Issue Analysis Sunrise and Trademark Claims Processes Discussion Draft."

Issue P1: Sunrise Domain Registration Authorization.

We re-phrased the question presented thusly:  For new TLDs, how can it be assured that a domain name applicant in the sunrise period is entitled to register a particular domain name, where only validated trademark holders may register such names?

Assuring only validated trademark holders register domain names as posed in the question may not be a one-size-fits-all solution.  That said, we feel strongly that the best approach is one similar to Approach 1, whereby a registrar (or registry) requires any sunrise domain name applicant to present a token that constitutes the applicant's right to register the domain name in question.  In such a system, the token would most logically be issued by the TMCH to the trademark holder at or after the time of the applicant submitted its trademarks to the TMCH.   However, we recognize that another TLD might prefer to directly query the TMCH when the sunrise application is processed (or before).

Issue P2: Responsibility for Registrant Claims Notice.

Approach 2 (Registry provides trademark claims notices to domain registrants) is inconsistent with the first Business Requirement that "Notifications should be sent by a party that the registrant has an existing relationship with."  In many instances, a registry will have no contractual relationship with a registrant, nor, for that matter, do all registries have mechanisms for communicating directly with registrants, which is presumed. Therefore, in our view, it would not be appropriate for a registry to provide the Registrant Claim Notice.





Thomas C. Indelicarto
Vice President and Associate General Counsel
tindelicarto at Verisign.com

t: 703-948-4464
21355 Ridgetop CIrcle  Dulles, VA 20166

VerisignInc.com<http://www.verisigninc.com/>

[Verisign(tm)]



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