ICANN has reported that it is conducting an inquiry into the circumstances of a Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) database outage. The database is an ICANN repository for intellectual property data in the domain space. Owners of registered trademarks may register their brands with the TMCH, after which the registration of domains containing names of these brands or similar names can only be possible with the brand owner’s consent. If there is an attempt to register such a name, the domain registrar and the brand owner receive a notice from the TMCH.
However, due to a technical problem, the TMCH was down for over 10 hours last Friday. Registrars are not supposed to register new names without confirmation of their clearance from the TMCH. Yet some observers have expressed concern that in this case the lack of response could be interpreted as silent consent. It should not be ruled out that domain names violating rights of trademark owners could have been registered. ICANN plans to finish the investigation and analysis of possible consequences of the incident within a few days.
