For many businesses, the new gTLD domain system rolling out this year presents a potential headache, due to the proliferation of thousands of new domain names. Historically ‘cybersquatters’ have tried to buy up domain names associated with other brands in the hope of extorting large sums of money from legitimate trademark holders, or to defraud the general public by tricking them into visiting a fake website.
In response to these concerns, the global domain name regulator ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has announced the launch of a ‘clearing house’ to try and detect fraudulent registrations. Businesses who can demonstrate a definite ownership of a trademark will be able to register with the clearing house, preventing cybersquatters from stealing domain names.
How the clearing house determines what is and is not a legitimate domain registration request still remains secret, and it is also unclear how the clearing house will handle issues of legitimate trademark registrations from different jurisdictions. However, it is known that computer algorithms will automatically check each registration request against a list of known trademarks and owners, preventing disputes in advance.
Businesses will be able to register up to ten domain name variations against their trademark, or even more for a fee. The clearing house service is up-and-running for trademark registrations now.
If you need help or advice registering your own domain name or trademark, get in touch with the Broadband Cloud Solutions team on 0141 585 6363.
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