The Trademark Clearinghouse depositary (TMCH) has announced important changes to its operations. Based on its database of registered trademarks, the service tracks domain name registration and alerts copyright holders of any domain names that contain their trademarks. TMCH is an ICANN-supported service launched during the first stage of the new gTLD program in response to requests by copyright holders who were concerned about the fact that the abundance of new domains will open a gateway to uncontrolled registration of copyright-violating domains. The service is not, however, regulated by ICANN and is instead managed by Deloitte, one of the world’s leading consulting companies.
Although until recently TMCH monitored only new gTLDs, it has now been announced that the service will also monitor registrations in .COM, Domain Incite reports. This makes TMCH a full-fledged and serious competitor of similar commercial services, MarkMonitor perhaps being the best known. Trademark Clearinghouse services will remain free for companies that have their trademarks registered there. Extra fees will be charged only if a copyright holder wishes to track registrations containing different variations of the trademark besides the mark as it is.
