ICANN: Phase 1 Initial Report of the Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms in All gTLDs Policy Development Process

Section I: Description and Explanation

Per the PDP Working
Group’s Charter, its Phase 1 work focuses on reviewing all the RPMs and
associated structures and procedures applicable to gTLDs launched under
the 2012 New gTLD Program, specifically:

• The Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS);
• The Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH);
• The Sunrise Periods and Trademark Claims Service provided by the TMCH; and
• The Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (TM-PDDRP).

The Working Group’s Charter contains a list of specific topics and questions that were reproduced verbatim from previous ICANN
community consultations on the topic of RPMs. This led to the Working
Group agreeing, early on in its work, that it would first need to refine
these original Charter questions so as to clarify their intent and
ensure that the PDP discussions remain objective and neutral.

To address the final agreed Charter questions for Phase 1, the
Working Group engaged in extensive data collection and analysis efforts,
as to date there have not been comprehensive studies or data collected
that measures the effectiveness of the Phase 1 RPMs.

As a result of its analysis of the data and input it collected, the
Working Group is proposing a total number of twenty-six (26) preliminary
recommendations at this time. No formal consensus call has been taken
on any of the preliminary recommendations, but these received sufficient
support among the Working Group members to be included as preliminary
recommendations for public comment.

The Working Group is also including seventeen (17) questions for
which it wishes to seek community input. The Working Group hopes the
community input will allow it to finalize any recommendations that it
may wish to make on these topics in its Final Report.

In addition, the Working Group is putting forward a total number of
twenty-four (24) individual proposals specifically pertaining to the URS and TMCH.
These proposals were submitted by individual Working Group members for
Working Group consideration but have not, at this time, attained
sufficient agreement amongst the Working Group members such as to become
preliminary recommendations.

This Initial Report also includes a summary of the Working Group’s
discussion of the additional marketplace RPMs that several Registry
Operators and the current TMCH Validation Service Provider have voluntarily adopted, over and above the mandatory ICANN
RPMs. The Working Group did not develop any specific recommendations
concerning these RPMs as they are outside the scope of this PDP.

It should be noted that the PDP
Charter includes several general, overarching questions as well as a
number of additional questions that the Working Group is expected to
address at the conclusion of Phase 1 or Phase 2 of its work, as
appropriate. The Working Group also invites input on six (6) overarching
Charter questions during the public comment proceeding for the Initial
Report. Furthermore, after the completion of the public comment, the
Working Group is expected to consider a general question about the
additional marketplace RPMs, which is related to one of its overarching
Charter questions.

This Initial Report will be posted for public comment for 40 days. Please note that similar to other Public Comment proceedings, all responses will be made public.

After the Working Group carefully reviews public comments received on
this Initial Report, it will finalize its recommendations and develop
the Final Report. The Working Group’s review of the public comments may
lead to Working Group consensus to:

• Amend, add, and/or remove its preliminary recommendation published in this Initial Report;
• Make final consensus recommendations on any of the proposals
  submitted by individual Working Group members that are published in this
  Initial Report.

Following a formal consensus call at the plenary level, the Working
Group’s Final Report will be updated accordingly with the proposed PDP final recommendation, which will then be reviewed by the GNSO Council and, if approved, forwarded to the ICANN Board of Directors for approval as an ICANN Consensus Policy.

Section II: Background

The question of who legally has rights to, or is the legitimate
holder of, a domain name can be open to dispute. Since the Internet is a
global resource and domain name holders are dispersed among numerous
different jurisdictions, finding an effective, enforceable and reliable
process to resolve rights disputes across various jurisdictions is not
an easy undertaking.

Over time, ICANN
has developed a number of dispute resolution policies and procedures
that attempt to address this issue and provide enforceable remedies for
certain types of disputes concerning domain name registrations. These
policies are essentially alternative dispute resolution procedures to
court litigation that nevertheless do not preclude the initiation of
legal proceedings in the appropriate jurisdiction.

In relation to domain name disputes concerning the registration and
use of legally protected trademarks, the Uniform Dispute Resolution
Policy (UDRP) is the longest standing alternative dispute resolution procedure, which has been an ICANN Consensus Policy since 1999.

As a result of the 2012 New gTLD
Program, several new rights protection mechanisms (RPMs) were also
developed to mitigate potential risks and costs to trademark rights
holders that could arise in the expansion of the new gTLD namespace, and to help create efficiencies for registration service providers among gTLD launches. These new mechanisms are the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS), the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) and the associated availability through the TMCH of Sunrise Periods and the Trademark Claims Service, and the Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedures (TM-PDDRP).

The Working Group’s Charter, as approved by the GNSO
Council, maps out the deliverables expected in each phase of work and
notes the need for the Working Group to track and if appropriate,
coordinate its work with other relevant efforts underway (e.g. the
Competition, Consumer Trust & Consumer Choice (CCT) Review Team and the GNSO‘s New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP).
The Charter also includes several general, overarching questions as
well as a number of additional questions that the Working Group is
expected to address at the conclusion of Phase 1 or Phase 2 of its work,
as appropriate.

Section III: Relevant Resources

Section IV: Additional Information

• Open Date: 18 Mar 2020 23:59 UTC
• Close Date: 27 Apr 2020 23:59 UTC
• Staff Report Due: 11 May 2020 23:59 UTC

This ICANN announcement was sourced from: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/rpm-initial-report-2020-03-18-en