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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Hi All,</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">What a great meeting we had in Seoul!
It was nice to spend time with so many new and old friends. Our
discussions were wide-ranging, and important. You should know that I
was approached by several attended, not from our constituency (our
meetings are open), who told me that our discussions were some of the
very best they had seen at ICANN.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The purpose of the email is to share one
issue that is moving very quickly through the ICANN process –
the issue of Trademarks and new gTLDs. I will summarize our meeting
in Seoul, and talk about events since then.<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">As in Sydney, we spent a lot of time in
our Seoul meeting on the issue of Trademarks and new gTLD issues. In
Sydney, we raised objections to the IRT Report. In Seoul, we
discussed events since Sydney – the publication of two new
documents by ICANN Staff – one on the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMC)
and the other on the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) --- and a
letter from the Board sending the whole matter of Trademark
Protection in the new gTLDs back to the GNSO for review.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The whole process was very responsive
to our/NCUC's concerns. Many of our concerns for registrants were
reflected in the new Staff Reports; the return of the process to the
GNSO reflected our call, with ALAC, to ICANN to follow the proper
process of policy formation – the purpose of our GNSO.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The Board's mid-October letter send the
Staff Reports to the GNSO Council with a range of questions and a
call for input – albeit on a very tight schedule. The GNSO Council
must respond to the Board by mid-December (in order to keep the
rollout of new gTLDs on schedule). It's a tall order!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So we (NCUC/NCSG) responded. During our
all-day meeting on Tuesday, we spent a good amount of time on these
new gTLD issues. We reviewed the Trademark Clearinghouse Staff Report
and, after discussion, decided on some key principles:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">==> While we believe that the best
place for trademark clearing is outside of ICANN altogether, if we
must have a TM Clearinghouse, then the rules must be explicit as to
the limits and protections for Domain Name Registrants, including:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">- The Clearinghouse must not expand
trademark law beyond national law;<br>
- Registrants must not be dissuaded
from registering domain names to which they have a right or would
otherwise be entitled;<br>
- The Clearinghouse should minimize
Chilling Effects; and<br>
- A clearer IP claims process and
sunrise period is required.</p>
<p>We also reviewed the URS Staff Report
and expressed our deep concern about this Rapid Takedown System for
Domain Names. We are deeply concerned about its creation, and wonder
at its rationale, but should it go forward, we noted that it must
embrace fundamental principles:<br>
- Due Process;<br>
- An Assumption of Innocence and Good Faith of the Registrant;<br>
- A Fair Right of Response; <br>
- Have a Clear definition of egregious conduct;<br>
- Require a High burden of proof,<br>
- Properly protect Registrant rights, and also<br>
- <font color="#000000"><span lang="en-GB">Provide a process
inexpensive enough for small noncommercial trademark owners to pursue.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="#000000"><span lang="en-GB">On the Wednesday of the
Seoul meeting, at the GNSO Council meeting, each Constituency named
its representatives to the special trademark drafting team (called
the “STI Team”). Our STI members are:</span></font></p>
<p><font color="#000000"><span lang="en-GB">Dr. Konstantinos
Komaitis,<br>
Wendy Seltzer,<br>
Robin Gross, and<br>
myself.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="#000000"><span lang="en-GB">Wendy is the founder of
the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse which tracks online abuse and
“a</span></font>ims to help you understand the protections that the
First Amendment and intellectual property laws give to your online
activities." Konstantinos wrote his dissertation on the Uniform Dispute
Resolution Policy (UDRP) and had a book coming out on the subject.
Robin is an active IP attorney and Chair of our Constituency. I am
a Trademark/Telecommunications Attorney who helped draft the UDRP 10
years ago.</p>
<p>The STI Team has already begun to meet with all the stakeholder
groups. We attended our first meeting in Seoul last Thursday evening.
Today there was a long call on TM Clearinghouse. We meet tomorrow on
the URS.</p>
<p>In my next email, I will share my thoughts on the big Trademark
and new gTLDs panel held last Wednesday in Seoul – and my great
surprise (and pleasure) that our (NCUC/NCSG) offer to work together
and find common ground was reciprocated by other groups. That panel
helped everyone to come to the negotiating table!</p>
<p>Regards and good night,<br>
Kathy <br>
</p>
<p>p.s. Here are the email addresses of our STI team should you want to
reach us
directly:<font color="#000000"><span lang="en-GB"><br>
Konstantinos --
k.komaitis[at]strath.ac.uk</span></font><font color="#000000"><span
lang="en-GB"><br>
Wendy –
wendy[at]seltzer.com</span></font><font color="#000000"><span
lang="en-GB"><br>
Robin –
robin[at]ipjustice.org<br>
</span></font>Kathy - kathy[at]kathykleiman.com</p>
<font color="#000000"><span lang="en-GB"></span></font>
<p><br>
<br>
</p>
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