Holders of Trade-Mark Rights Should Pay Attention to the New .biz Top-Level Domain
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HOLDERSOFTRADE-MARKRIGHTSSHOULDPAYATTENTIONTOTHENEW.BIZ
TOP-LEVELDOMAIN
MarcelNaud*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.
Lawyers,PatentandTrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria–BlocE–8thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.(514)9876242–Fax(514)8457874
www.robic.ca–info@robic.com
Asyoumayalreadybeaware,theInternetCorporationforAssignedNames
andNumbers(ICANN)isintheprocessofincreasingthenumberoftoplevel
domains(suchas.com,.netand.org).AmongthesenewTLD’s,”.biz”was
adoptedtohelpcompaniesregisternewdomainnamesthatare
representativeoftheirnames,productsandservices.Toensurethatthe
introductionofthisnewTLDtakesplaceinafairandorderlyfashion,the
selectedregistryfor.biz,NeuLevel,hasdevelopedathree-phaseprocessto
occurpriortothelaunch.Whatfollowsisashortdescriptionofeachphase:
Phase1:IPClaimService(May21,2001toJuly9,2001)
Beforeallowinganydomainnameapplications,NeuLevelwillofferan
IntellectualProperty(IP)ClaimServicetoexistingholdersoftrade-markrights.
NeuLevelwillassemblealltrade-markclaimsintoanIPClaimDatabase,
withoutverifyingwhetheranIPClaimcorrespondswithactualtrade-marks.
Therewillbeafeethatshouldnotexceed$90USDforsubmittinganIPClaim
form.SubmissionofanIPClaimFormdoesnotcreateanyspecialrightswith
respecttoregisteringaparticulardomainname.Inotherwords,anyclaimant
wishingtoregistera.bizdomainnamemustalsosubmitaseparatedomain
nameapplication.Thisservicewillwarnholdersoftrade-markrightsand
correspondingdomainnameapplicantsoftheexistenceofpotential
conflicts.
Phase2:DomainNameApplication(ThroughSeptember25,2001)
Thisphaseprovidescompanieswiththeopportunitytosubmitdomainname
applicationstoregistrarspriortotheactuallaunchoftheRegistry.Therewill
CIPS,2001.*OfLEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.,amultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentand
trademarkagents.PublishedintheSpring2001issue(Vol.5,No.2)issueofourNewsletter.
Publication068.036E.
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beanominalfeeforsubmittingaDomainNameApplication.NeuLevelwill
thencomparetheseapplicationswiththeIPClaimDatabase.
Ifa.bizdomainnameapplicationisinconflictwithaclaim,NeuLevelwill
notifythecorrespondingapplicantthatitsapplicationmaybeinconflictwith
existing,pendingorcommonlawtrade-marks.Nevertheless,thedomain
nameapplicantwillhavetheoptiontoeitherproceedwiththeapplication
(inthatcase,thedomainnamewillbeplaced”onhold”)ortocancelit.
Ifnoneoftheapplicationssubmittedcorrespondexactlytoanyoftheentries
ontheIPClaimDatabase,NeuLevelwillnotifytheclaimantpartyofthat
outcome.However,theIPClaimServicewillnotnotifytheclaimantifthe
Registryreceivesanapplicationforadomainnamewhichissimplya
variationoftheIPClaim.Understandably,theDomainNameApplication
Servicedoesnotamounttopre-registrationofa.bizdomainname,since
therecanbeseveralapplicationsfromdifferentcompaniesforthesame
domainname.
Phase3:NameSelection
DuringPhase3,NeuLevelwillprocessalldomainnameapplicationsthat
eitherdidnotmatchanyoftheentriesintheIPClaimDatabase,orifthere
wasamatch,theapplicantindicatedthatitnonethelesswantedtoproceed
withNameSelection.
Inordertoresolveconflictsbetweendifferentapplicantsforthesamedomain
name,theRegistrywillselectnamesatrandom,avoidingpreferencetoward
anyRegistrarandignoringtheorderinwhichtheapplicationswerereceived
duringthepre-launchperiod.Theapplicantforthedomainnamewillbe
notifiedthatithassuccessfullyregisteredthedomainname.Obviously,there
isafeeforregisteringdomainnames.
LaunchoftheRegistry(October1,2001)
UponthelaunchoftheRegistry,claimantswillbenotifiedastothestatusof
theirclaims.TheRegistrywillthenplacea30-dayholdonalldomainnames
forwhichthereisamatchwithintheIPClaimDatabase.Thisshouldallow
partiestocontactoneanotherandtoresolveconflictseitherthrough
negotiationorarbitration.
AftertheRegistrybeginsacceptingliveregistrations,newregistrationsfor
domainnameswillnotbecheckedagainsttheIPClaimDatabase,and
companieswillbeabletoregister.bizdomainnamesjustastheyregister
domainnamestoday,onafirstcome,firstservedbasis.
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MoreinformationcanbeobtainedatNeulevel’swebsite
similarprocesshasbeenputinplacefortheTLD.info;see
Bewareofpre-registrationoffer
Someregistrarsarealreadyofferingpre-registrationofdomainnamesusing
the.bizTLD,evenifnoonehasyetbeenauthorizedtodoso.Personswho
attempttopre-registersuchdomainnamesdosoattheirownriskandwith
noassurancethattheywillreceivethepre-registerednamesoncetheTLD
becomesoperational.
Thisdoesnotmeanthatanykindofpre-registrationwillfail,buttheAmerican
FederalTradeCommission
themselvesbyavoidinganydomainnamepre-registrationservicethat
guaranteesparticulartopleveldomainnamesorpreferentialtreatmentinthe
assignmentofnewtopleveldomainnamesandbyavoidingtodobusiness
withpeoplewhosendunsolicitedfaxes.
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commercevouédepuis1892àlaprotectionetàlavalorisationdela
propriétéintellectuelledanstouslesdomaines:brevets,dessinsindustrielset
modèlesutilitaires;marquesdecommerce,marquesdecertificationet
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diligenteetaudit;etce,tantauCanadaqu’ailleursdanslemonde.La
maîtrisedesintangibles.ROBIC,agroupoflawyersandofpatentand
trademarkagentsdedicatedsince1892totheprotectionandthe
valorizationofallfieldsofintellectualproperty:patents,industrialdesignsand
utilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksandindicationsoforigin;
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computer,softwareandintegratedcircuits;biotechnologies,
pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,know-how,competition
andanti-trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnologytransfers;e-commerce,
distributionandbusinesslaw;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecution
litigationandarbitration;duediligence;inCanadaandthroughouttheworld.
Ideaslivehere.
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