Why Should You Submit Your Trademark Records to the

WHY YOU SHOULD SUBMIT YOUR TRADEMARK RECORDS TO THE
TRADEMARK CLEARINGHOUSE
MARCEL NAUD*
ROBIC, LLP
LAWYERS, PATENT AND TRADE-MARK AGENTS
While the world currently has just a few domain name generic types such as .com,
and .org for email and web addresses, nearly 2,000 applications were filed to create
new generic types of domain names, such as .corp, .inc, .ltd, .med, .mobile, .shop,
.store, .site, .web, etc. This may create new opportunities and choices for many
trade-mark holders, but it is also bound to create more competition and significant
risks for them.
Your organization may think that it already has the domain names it needs to operate
online and that it does not need to consider registering domain names among those
new types. Admittedly, this expansion is not expected to affect the way the Internet
operates. However, it has the potential of changing the way information is found or
creating new options for online presence of businesses.
Therefore, a competitive advantage may be lost by organizations that do not monitor
third-party registrations of domain names that match their own trademarks.
Historically, some businesses have missed the opportunity to secure their preferred
choice of username, page name or vanity URL in ubiquitous social networks and
media such as Facebook and Twitter.
The most important mechanism for existing trademarks in this expansion of the
domain name space is the Trademark Clearinghouse. It may be advisable to record
your registered trademarks, or some of them, with the Trademark Clearinghouse
(designated by ICANN; http://trademark-clearinghouse.com/) if your organization
would like:
1. to have priority over the general public (including speculators and
cybersquatters) to register corresponding domain names for anyone of the
several hundred new generic types of domain names that are planned to
be launched over the next few months and years; and/or
2. to send warning notices through the Trademark Clearinghouse to
domain name applicants when they attempt to register domain names that
© CIPS, 2013.
*
From ROBIC, LLP, a multidisciplinary firm of Lawyers, and Patent and Trade-mark Agents. Published
in the Winter 2013 (Vol. 17, no. 3) Newsletter of the firm. Publication 068.171E.
ROBIC, LLP
www.robic.ca
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2
match one of your trademarks and that notifications for any such domain
name registration be sent to you.
Identification of your organization’s registered trademarks to be recorded with the
Trademark Clearinghouse and of the domain names that should be registered
requires an evaluation of various factors, including the nature of the trademarks, their
respective degrees of importance for your organization, the likelihood that they could
be registered as domain names by others and the inconveniences that registrations
by others may represent for your organization.
A database of all applications for new generic types of domain names is available at
https://gtldresult.icann.org/application-result/applicationstatus and a list of the new
generic types that have already been entered into the Internet's Root Zone is
available at http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strings
For more information on this subject, read this article on a “New Era for Domain
Names” at http://newsletter.robic.ca/nouvelle.aspx?lg=FR&id=193.
ROBIC, un groupe d'avocats et d'agents de brevets et de marques de commerce voué depuis 1892 à
la protection et à la valorisation de la propriété intellectuelle dans tous les domaines: brevets, dessins
industriels et modèles utilitaires; marques de commerce, marques de certification et appellations
d'origine; droits d'auteur, propriété littéraire et artistique, droits voisins et de l'artiste interprète;
informatique, logiciels et circuits intégrés; biotechnologies, pharmaceutiques et obtentions végétales;
secrets de commerce, know-howet concurrence; licences, franchises et transferts de technologies;
commerce électronique, distribution et droit des affaires; marquage, publicité et étiquetage; poursuite,
litige et arbitrage; vérification diligente et audit. ROBIC, a group of lawyers and of patent and
trademark agents dedicated since 1892 to the protection and the valorization of all fields of intellectual
property: patents, industrial designs and utility patents; trademarks, certification marks and indications
of origin; copyright and entertainment law, artists and performers, neighbouring rights; computer,
software and integrated circuits; biotechnologies, pharmaceuticals and plant breeders; trade secrets,
know-how, competition and anti-trust; licensing, franchising and technology transfers; e-commerce,
distribution and business law; marketing, publicity and labelling; prosecution litigation and arbitration;
due diligence.
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ROBIC, LLP
www.robic.ca
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MONTREAL
1001 Square-Victoria - Bloc E - 8th Floor
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Z 2B7
Tel.: +1 514 987-6242 Fax: +1 514 845-7874
QUEBEC
2828 Laurier Boulevard, Tower 1, Suite 925
Quebec, Quebec, Canada G1V 0B9
Tel.: +1 418 653-1888 Fax.: +1 418 653-0006
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ROBIC, LLP
www.robic.ca
[email protected]
MONTREAL
1001 Square-Victoria - Bloc E - 8th Floor
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Z 2B7
Tel.: +1 514 987-6242 Fax: +1 514 845-7874
QUEBEC
2828 Laurier Boulevard, Tower 1, Suite 925
Quebec, Quebec, Canada G1V 0B9
Tel.: +1 418 653-1888 Fax.: +1 418 653-0006