You are absolutely right.
The problem has been discussed
in the last forum at length already and probably even a long time before that. If
you are interested in my (this years) letter to ICANN concerning trademark law, etc.,
please let me know.I think that in cctlds you can just use the regular trademark
law. But it would certainly be a good solution to create new cctlds by adding .reg
to the existing cctlds: mybusiness.reg.us or mybusiness.us.reg and reserve the new
gtld .reg for international businesses.
We also might introduce us.1 - us.42 to
handle the problem or, as I proposed much earlier, create a gtld .1 (one) just for
internationally known trademarks.
To deal with the problem of many different classes
within the trademark system I basically recommend to use the well-known first-come-first-serve
system again. if you are no longer the first one to register, you have to add your
class e.g. mybusiness.reg22.us or (easier) mybusiness22.reg (international).
I
think that's essentially what Garry Anderson and me keep proposing for quite some
time.
All other gtlds should be free from trademark laws.
There are so many
possible solutions that I cannot understand,
why we are talking about new gtlds
and not about solving the trademark problem. At least both subjects should be solved
at the same time.
In my opinion ICANN has to choose one of the discussed solutions
immediately, otherwise trademark conflicts will increase. Let me tell you, why: If
I take a name which has already been trademarked in the U.S. and is not internationally
known (most trademarks are not) and I go to Tuvalu, register it as a trademark there
and register the .tv address, I am quite confident to be able to keep that trademark.
Can
you imagine the reaction, if I start my internet business and advertising? The U.S.
company will certainly state that I broke trademark laws. But I didn't. Only that
some U.S. judges may think that in the Internet the law must be applied differently,
because you can reach anybody on this world. So what?
If ICANN introduces one of
the solutions given above, I would just be able to register .tv (if I am quick) without
trademark protction or .tv.reg with trademark protection for Tuvalu.
The U.S.
company would be able to register .us (if they are quick) without trademark protetion
or .us.reg with trademark protection for the U.S. - or .us.reg42, if they are late
and have to add the class they registered to their trademark.
But no quarrel could
arise and the Internet would not become a battlefield. That's what ICANN's first
concern must be.
Thank you for your attention!