Trademark Clearinghouse will open on March 26th

The Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) will open its doors on March 26th 2013. The TMCH will play an important role during the sunrise phase of the release of the new gTLD’s.

As mentioned before the release of the approved extensions will happen in the 3 well known phases: sunrise, landrush and general availability. During the sunrise, owners of a registered mark are given the chance to register their mark under one or several extensions. If you’re a mark owner and you wish to do so, it’s necessary you first register yourself at the TM Clearing House. The TMCH is the party who will check whether you definitely are the owner of this mark. Moreover they’ll also keep you posted for at least 60 days after the release of a new gTLD if someone else tries to register your mark under this new gTLD.

You can register you mark for 1, 3 or 5 years via the TM Clearing House. Of course it’s up to you to choose for which period you register. And once you’ve registered your mark under a new gTLD, you can extend this name every year regardless of whether you are still registered at the TM Clearing House or not. So why would you register for 3 or 5 years? Because a few hundred applications have been filed for new extensions and the sunrises of all those extensions will take quite a lot of time. And if you wish to be the first to register your mark under a certain extension during the sunrise or you wish to be the first to know when someone else tries to register your mark under a new gTLD, you’ll need the TM Clearing House during the next few years.