Now in its twelfth year, Class 46 is dedicated to European trade mark law and practice. This weblog is written by a team of enthusiasts who want to spread the word and share their thoughts with others.
TUESDAY, 10 JULY 2012
Those gTLD applications: a message from Cyberspace
So much has been written and said about the controversial generic top-level domains (gTLDs) in recent months that many people are experiencing a sort of domain-fatigue. This important subject will not however just go away: trade mark proprietors, licensees, practitioners and consumers are all affected by it.
As a leading international organisation in the field of trade marks, MARQUES has been working hard to alert its members and indeed all users of the trade mark system to the issues raised by gTLDs. In keeping with this commitment, the organisation's Cyberspace Team has just released the following statement:
ICANN has published the list of 1,900 applications
ICANN has published the list of 1,900 applications. Trade mark owners concerned about an application for a new gTLD can file a Public Comment for free which will be considered by the evaluators – but time is running out so act soon (12 August)!
The Public Comment period acts as a type of informal objection process. Anyone can file a Public Comment on any of the applications based on one of the objections’ grounds : String Confusion Objection (SCO), Legal Rights Objection (LRO), Limited Public Interest Objection (LPIO), and Community Objection (CO); or you can choose “Others”.
For example, as a MARQUES member, what do you feel about the application for .sucks? Will you or your clients be forced to register under this new extension if accepted? Is it right that ICANN will be allocating terms of public interest like .health or .healthcare? Has someone submitted an application for a keyword that describes an area of commercial importance to you?
The Public Comment forum is open to anyone and is free. The Comments are public and can be entered here. All Public Comments submitted in the first 60 days will be made available to the application evaluators. It means that we must aim at the 12 August deadline!
The topic is complex, but take the opportunity to raise publicly some concerns now!
You can find more information in the Paper prepared by Nick Wood of Com Laude, a Cyberspace Team Member, by clicking here. The list of new gTLDs Strings can also be found here.
MARQUES does not guarantee the accuracy of the information in this blog. The views are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of MARQUES. Seek professional advice before action on any information included here.
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