Registered Trademarks

A registered trademark is one that has been officially registered at a trademark office on a national or regional level and is published on the main register within its designated jurisdiction. To be eligible for inclusion in the Clearinghouse, the trademark must bear national effect and be officially registered at the time of submission for verification.

Trademarks registered through an expedited process will be eligible for inclusion in the Trademark Clearinghouse if they meet the verification criteria outlined in the TMCH Guidelines. However, if such trademarks are submitted to the Clearinghouse prior to the examination of absolute grounds by the respective trademark office and the conclusion of the opposition period, they will undergo re-verification by Clearinghouse verification agents at the conclusion of the opposition period. Should the trademark no longer hold protection status during the re-verification, it will be deemed invalid by the Trademark Clearinghouse.

For a comprehensive understanding of the information and documentary evidence required, feel free to download the complete Clearinghouse guidelines.

Ineligibility Criteria

The following will not be considered registered trademarks and are ineligible for inclusion in the Clearinghouse:

• Trademark applications
• Trademarks registered by a city, state, province, or sub-national region
• International trademark applications made via the Madrid system that do not hold an underlying basic trademark registration with national effect: A trademark filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) can be submitted for inclusion in the Clearinghouse. However, this will only be accepted if the basic trademark registration is still valid. Alternatively, if the trademark registration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is older than 5 years, acceptance in the Clearinghouse will no longer depend on a valid underlying basic registration. Only a valid WIPO registration with a valid designation in any jurisdiction is needed.
• Registered trademarks subjected to successful invalidation, cancellation, opposition, or rectification proceedings

Alternative Eligibility

While not classified as registered trademarks, the following may still qualify for inclusion in the Clearinghouse under other trademark types:

• Well-known or famous trademarks (unless they are also registered)
• Unregistered (including common law) trademarks
• Court-validated marks
• Marks protected under statute or treaty
• Other marks constituting intellectual property by arrangement with a Registry

Exclusions

Per the gTLD Applicant Guidebook, certain registered trademarks will not be accepted by the Clearinghouse:

• Registered trademarks containing a top-level extension (e.g., “example.org” or “example.com”)
• Registered trademarks commencing with or containing a “dot” (.)—for instance, the trademark “.example”

This prohibition does not apply to registered trademarks including a “dot” when the dot functions as:

• Punctuation (e.g., period)
• Abbreviation
• Figurative part of the registered trademark

Any registered trademark lacking letters, words, numerals, or DNS valid characters will also be excluded, adhering to the guidelines outlined in the gTLD Applicant Guidebook.