For information on the Trademark Clearinghouse, please review our prior post on this matter here.
The Trademark Clearinghouse has been operating for the past year and has released data which shows that over 500,000 Claims Notices have been delivered to potential domain name registrants. Their records indicate that out of those that receive a Claims Notice, 95% choose not to proceed with domain name registration.
The Trademark Clearinghouse, operates as a protective measure for trademark owners upon the release of the new Top-Level Domains (TLDs). At this stage nearly 70 of the 1,300 applied for TLDs are accepting registrations. The number of Claims Notices sent to potential registrants indicates that there is a high level of interest in registering domains linked to known marks.
It is still possible to register trademarks with the Trademark Clearinghouse and for those trademarks with strong brand awareness it could be a worthwhile investment to prevent unscrupulous sites linked to your trademark appearing on the internet.
We are happy to assist any of our clients with registration with the Trademark Clearinghouse.