The Clearinghouse protects brands in two ways: with a Sunrise Service and a Trademark Claims Service.
Sunrise is an initial period of at least 30 days before domain names are offered to the general public. Trademark owners can take advantage of the Sunrise to safeguard the domain name that matches their trademark. A Sunrise Period is mandatory for all new gTLDs and having a validated trademark entry in the Clearinghouse is the minimum requirement to participate in this limited pre-registration period.
- Trademark holders will have ample time to register their IP rights using a user-friendly web interface, or an agent of their choice.
- After verification, these rights are centrally stored and can be used to register the corresponding domain name in any new gTLD, before general registrations open. This process shall greatly reduce the administrative burden and associated costs for trademark holders.