[kictanet] New top level domains and trademark protection

[Alice Munyua]

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/04/201342312710292956.html

Interesting article that begins to address issues of the ICANN trademark 
protection mechanism called the "Trademark Clearinghouse" (TMCH), which 
will create a global central registry for all trademarks that are 
registered/protected.

Will it disadvantage African trademarks? Most African business/trademark 
holders etc have not been paying much attention to what has been going 
on at ICANN with the new gTLD processes and this discussion has not 
taken place in our region, yet it is an important one.

A proposed African Mark Validation System (MVS) will be established for 
"holders of various proprietary-­‐naming rights, in particular trade 
mark rights" and can soon start submitting their marks to the MVS with 
supporting documentation. " The MVS is expected to then feed to the 
ICANN TMCH.


Best
Alice

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