Handling the Oncoming Tide of Generic Top-Level Domain Name Disputes
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As early as late summer 2013, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the nonprofit entity that oversees domain names, will launch as many as 500 new Generic Top-Level Domain names (gTLDs). A top-level domain name is the last part of an Internet address, after the final “dot.” The most common current top-level domain names are .com, .net and .org. Under the gTLD program, however, ICANN invited applications from individuals, companies and organizations to create many new top-level domains. Some of the proposed gTLDs include .book, .music, .app and .buy.
Many brand owners responded with trepidation to the notion that hundreds of new domains would soon be on the market. They still remember the dot.com land rush of the early 2000s where they had to scramble to secure and defend their brands on the Internet. Would there now be more of that, on a larger scale?
Those expensive trademark battles could be coming back, but ICANN, possibly foreseeing problems, has put in place new Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) designed to resolve disputes related to gTLDs. The Trademark Clearinghouse, for example, allows brand owners to list their brands in a central repository so as to secure domain names on an expedited basis. Registered brand owners will also be notified if possibly infringing domain names are registered.
Read original articleTags: ICANN, the�Internet Corporation, top-level domain name
