ICANN Resources

ICANN publishes an extensive library of materials concerning the gTLD process on its website. However, brand owners and other organisations not familiar with ICANN or the Internet domain industry may find the volume of available materials overwhelming. Gathered below for convenience are links to the main ICANN documents:

Application, evaluation and delegation process:

Trademark and community protections
The new gTLD programme has a number of mechanisms which aim to address trademark protection concerns:

  • Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) – Intended as a fast, inexpensive version of the UDRP, URS features a pro-forma complaint, the locking of the domain within 24 hours and its suspension for the life of the registration plus a year, all for $300. It provides rapid take-down in clear cut instances of trademark abuse. (Sept 11)
  • TM Clearinghouse – a central repository to hold current validated trademarks that can be pushed to registries where you may want to register your terms. Placing your mark in the Clearinghouse will prevent you from having to pay for the same information to be validated time and time again across all the registries but you’ll still have to cover the cost of the registrations and renewals.  (Sept 11)
  • Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (PPDRP) – affords trademark holders the right to proceed against registry operators who have acted in bad faith e.g. systematic cyber squatting (Sept 11)
  • Registry Restrictions Dispute Resolution Procedure (RRDRP) – aims to address post delegation concerns for community-based TLD from harmed individuals or organisations – namely that the registry operator was not meeting its obligations to police the registration and use of domains within the restrictions stated in the terms of the gTLD registry agreement. (Sept 11)

Application, evaluation and delegation – explanatory memoranda and supporting materials: