Trademark Clearinghouse

What is TMCH?

TMCH, Trademark Clearinghouse was created by ICANN as part of the new gTLD initiative, and is an integral mechanism in domain trademark protection. Official operation began on March 26, 2013.
The Trademark Clearinghouse is a unique, global repository of authenticated information from trademark holders. All trademark holders are able to register for TMCH before or during the release of new gTLD for protection.

TMCH Services

Pre-Verification:
Upon submission and payment of a trademark record, the trademark record and the provided information will be verified in order to determine whether: 1) all provided information is accurate and complete and 2) the trademark meets the eligibility requirements as established by these Clearinghouse guidelines.

Sunrise Services:
Sunrise services allow trademark holders an advance opportunity to register domain names corresponding to their marks either defensively or with a view to exploiting a valuable new web address before new names are made available to the public. New gTLD registries are required to offer a Sunrise period of at least 30 days.

Claims Services:
Claims service follows the Sunrise Period. It is a notification service mandated by ICANN for all new gTLDs – to warn both potential domain name registrants as well as trademark holders (with their marks in the Clearinghouse) of possible infringements.

Ongoing Notifications
Following the 90 day Trademark Claims Period for each new gTLD, the Trademark Clearinghouse offers a free Ongoing Notifications service. Trademark holders will be notified of potential intellectual property infringement indefinitely, beyond the original 90 day period.

Why Join TMCH

Pre-Registration
Enables early registration of brand domain name. This greatly increases the chance of registering the desired domain, also prevents costly re-acquisition that may take place afterwards.

Notification System
During the Trademark Claims period, anyone attempting to register a domain name matching a mark that is recorded in the Trademark Clearinghouse will receive a notification displaying the relevant mark information. If the notified party goes ahead and registers the domain name, the Trademark Clearinghouse will send a notice to the one or more trademark holders with matching records in the Clearinghouse, informing them that someone has registered the domain name.

Unique Repository of Authenticated Information
By enrolling in The Trademark Clearinghouse, one is protected from online infringement. It is the first-line of defense and provides authenticated proof for the brand owner.

One-Stop Shop：
Upon registration, brand owners can enjoy the convenience of Sunrise Services on every new gTLD for all registries.

TMCH Registration Pricing

TMCH Registration Term Annual Fee (includes 10 labels)
1 Year 25,000円
3 Years 75,000円
5 Years 125,000円

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  • It is compulsory that a trademark registrant has a TMCH issued SMD file in order to register new gTLD domain names under the priority registration scheme.
  • As a general rule, alphanumerical character sets for TMCH trademark registration must be a complete match to the registered trademark. Should there be any space or special characters used in original registered trademark such as “&” or “@”, registrant is allowed to either remove it or replace it with hyphen “-“ character to register it with TMCH.
  • TMCH does not accept registration applications of a same trademark in multiple character sets (example: Japanese trademark in alphabet version, kanji version, hiragana version or katakana version). Additionally, a trademark logo that does not include any character is not accepted by TMCH for registration application.
  • Depending on the details of the application, it will take approximately 2 weeks for the trademark to be registered with TMCH database from the time application is received.
  • If required information is deemed incomplete, TMCH registration may be rejected.
  • Above pricing does not include GST (8%).
  • Application fee for TMCH trademark registration is non-refundable regardless of the outcome of its application.
  • Bank deposit is currently the only method of payment accepted for TMCH registration application.

TMCH FAQ

Q1: Which trademarks are accepted?

A1:

Registered trademarks
The following are not considered registered trademarks and will not be eligible for inclusion in the Clearinghouse: Trademark applications; Trademarks registered by a city, state, province, or sub-national region; International trademark applications made via the Madrid system unless the underlying basic trademark registration has national effect; Registered marks that were subject to successful invalidation, cancellation, opposition, or rectification proceedings.

Marks protected by statute or treaty
Exception: Any mark protected under stature or treaty of which the statute or treaty is only applicable to a certain region, city or state.

Court validated marks
Exception: Any state or city court-validated mark

Q2: How many domain name labels can I link to my Trademark Record?

A2: There is no maximum amount of domain name labels that can be linked to a Trademark Record within a single payment transaction. Upon registration of a Trademark Record, the Trademark Holder has the possibility to select additional domain names that can be associated with the Trademark Record, based on the Domain Name Matching Rules. Up to 10 domain names are included in the price of Trademark Registration. For each additional domain name label that is associated with the Trademark Registration, an additional cost will be calculated to the Trademark Holder.

Q3: Why Join TMCH?

A3: Pre-Registration, Notification System, Unique Repository of Authenticated Information, and One-Stop Shop.

Q4: My trademark contains a space. How will the labels be generated?

A4: The space present in the name of the trademark will be either omitted or replaced by a hyphen in the label. The labels are automatically generated by the Clearinghouse on the basis of the name of the trademark.

Q5: Until when can I submit trademarks in the Clearinghouse?

A5: There is no time limit as to when you can submit your Trademark Record in the Clearinghouse. Nevertheless, in order to obtain Sunrise Services, you will need to submit a Trademark Record prior to the launch of the TLD in which you want to register your domain name during the Sunrise period.

Q6: How does the labels be generated?

A6: The labels are automatically generated by the Clearinghouse on the basis of the name of the trademark.

Q7: For a multi-class registration, are we required to provide a detailed description for every class?

A7: Yes, you should provide a description of every class you have selected if the description is different from description and class number as provided in the description of goods and services class. The detailed description will be included in the SMD (sunrise file) as well as on the notification provided to a third party during the trademark claims services.

Q8: Is it possible to submit trademarks in the Clearinghouse as an assignee?

A8: Yes, assignees are allowed to submit TM in the Clearinghouse. They fall into the category of Trademark holders. They will need to provide an assignee declaration.

Q9: Is it possible to submit trademarks in the Clearinghouse as an agent?

A9: Yes, agents are allowed to submit TM in the Clearinghouse. They will need to provide declaration.

Q10: Can I submit a trademark composed of two different scripts?

A10: While you are allowed to submit a trademark whose name is composed of different scripts (such as for instance Latin and Chinese characters), due to technical requirements imposed by ICANN, you must be aware that no labels will be generated. This means that while you might have a verified trademark, your SMD file will contain no labels and no trademark claims notifications will be sent to you as no labels will be attached to your trademark record.

Q11: Can I submit information about trademarks with the same name but registered in different countries, under the same trademark record?

A11: No, this is not possible. Trademarks with the same name but registered in a different jurisdiction by the Trademark Holder will be treated as separate and independent trademark records. This will mean that if you want, for instance, to submit to the Clearinghouse a Trademark registered in France and in the United Kingdom, you will have to submit two separate and independent records: one for the Trademark registered in France and one for the Trademark registered in the United Kingdom.

Q12: Is it possible to record a trademark if the name of the trademark consists only of two characters?

A12: Yes, any mark with at least one character is acceptable in the Clearinghouse. Please note however that all two-character labels will be withheld from registration or allocated to Registry Operator at the second level within the TLD in order to avoid confusion with country codes.

Q13: If two different rights holders have the same trademark in two different countries, then how does the Clearinghouse decide between them?

A13: The Clearinghouse is a repository of data only, and trademarks from many jurisdictions can coexist in the Clearinghouse. Clearinghouse processes are designed to confirm the validity of data, not to make determinations on the substance or scope of rights held by a particular party. The decision will be made by registry or registrar.

Q14: Proof of use evidence

A14: Proof of use samples should illustrate an exact match to the submitted mark. Proof of use includes packaging and labeling of a product, advertising materials, and screenshot of website.

Q15: Can I transfer a Mark Record?

A15: Yes. To transfer Mark Records you must be in possession of the SMD file linked to the mark; You must be a Trademark Holder transferring to a Trademark Agent or an Trademark Agenttransferring to a Trademark Agent.