29 Rights Protection Mechanisms

Prototypical answer:

Table of Contents


1 - Support and interaction with the Trademark Clearinghouse
2 - Sunrise process
3 - Trademark Claims
4 - Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
5 - Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (PDDRP)
6 - Registry Restrictions Dispute Resolution Procedure (RRDRP)
7 - Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS)
8 - Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)
9 - Abusive Use Policy and Takedown procedures
10 - Registrant Pre-Verification and Eligibility Requirements
11 - Resources


The .OVH registry is committed to ensure that it fully complies and meets or exceeds the requirements of ICANN in terms of security, stability and resiliency, malicious abuse issues, and rights protection in relation to the expansion of the generic Top Level Domain name space by devising and implementing mechanisms in line with ICANNʹs Consensus Policies and Temporary Policies. The Registry will provide for an environment for .OVH where opportunities for abuse and malevolent conduct will be significantly reduced. To this end, the .OVH registry will, inter alia, implement and adhere to all rights protection mechanisms that may be mandated from time to time by ICANN, pursuant to Specification 7 of the Draft New gTLD Agreement.

The .OVH registry has extensive knowledge, awareness and understanding of existing rights protection mechanisms designed by ICANN and it is a core objective of the .OVH registry to guarantee effective and timely implementation of said mechanisms. The registry will implement mechanisms designed to (1) prevent abusive registrations, and (2) identify and address the abusive use of registered domain names on an on-going basis.

OVH has closely followed ICANNʹs policy development in relation to the adequate and effective protection of the legal rights of trade mark owners in the new gTLD environment including the work of the Implementation Recommendation Team (ʺIRTʺ) formed by ICANNʹs Intellectual Property Constituency in accordance with the 6 March 2009 ICANN Board resolution at the request of the community seeking solutions for potential risks to trade mark holders in the implementation of new gTLDs.

As the .OVH registry back-end service provider, AFNIC is at the forefront of innovation in the domain name industry and has appointed for that purpose a committee of industry experts and academics (the Scientific Council) to help AFNIC to carry out its mission of innovation, security and high levels of service. AFNIC has contributed to the creation and the implementation of dedicated rights protection mechanisms for the ccTLDs AFNIC is responsible for and has a dedicated Legal and Registration Policy Department with pertinent skills and experience in the field of rights protection mechanisms to prevent abusive registrations and identify and address the abusive use of registered names on an on-going basis.

The .OVH registry will seek to deploy this experience in the .OVH with a view to ensuring effective, timely and sufficient protection of the rights of others.


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1 - Support and interaction with the Trademark Clearinghouse

The .OVH registry will ensure that it fully supports and interacts with the Trademark Clearinghouse, a central repository for information to be authenticated, stored, and disseminated, pertaining to the rights of trade mark holders.

OVH will use the Trademark Clearinghouse to support its pre-launch or initial launch period rights protection mechanisms which will consist of, at a minimum, a Sunrise process and a Trademark Claims service.


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2 - Sunrise process

The .OVH registry will implement a Sunrise process for registration under .OVH for a minimum of 30 days and subject to the .OVH eligibility requirements. The Sunrise Registration Process will incorporate a Sunrise Dispute Resolution Policy (SDRP).

This phase will provide trade mark holders with the opportunity to register domain names under .OVH before registration is generally available to the public, enabling them to register names that are either identical or similar to their trademarks with a view to avoiding malicious practices from third parties.

The .OVH registry will distinguish three kinds of types of Sunrise applications:
* Type A: Applications made by OVH Group represented by OVH GROUP HOLDING SAS or any of its subsidiaries.

* Type B: Applications made by OVH community members who have applied for the registration of a domain name corresponding to their registered trademark or registered domain name.

* Type C: Applicants outside OVH community can apply to register their trademarks or intellectual property rights as a .OVH domain name (with full compliance with the Trademark Clearinghouse process).

In the event where multiple requests would be received by the registry for the same domain name :

Type A files will be given priority over all other requests

Type B files will be given priority over type C files, as long as the applicant provides all the necessary documents that can justify the legitimacy of its request.

Type C files will be processed by the registry as long as the applicant provides all the necessary documents that can justify its legitimacy.

In the event of multiple requests of the same type made by different applicants:
* A draw can be organized if all the applicants agree to it.
* A mediation can be organized to find an agreement on the attribution of the domain name. The registry will provide a 7 day delay to allow the applicants to reach an agreement.

If no agreement can be reached using these two methods, the domain name will be put up for a silent auction between the applicants. Each applicant will communicate an offer directly to the registry who will then assign the domain to the highest bid.

The registry agrees to transfer all profits earned through this auction to the charity of its choice.


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3 - Trademark Claims

As the .OVH registry back-end registry service provider, AFNIC has experience of similar mechanisms through its use of the Clearing House for Intellectual Property (CHIP) which it appointed to manage the Claims Mechanisms for several of its ccTLDs (.pm, .re, .tf, .wf and .yt). When a domain name is registered in one of said ccTLDs that corresponds to a trade mark in the CHIP database, an automatic notification is sent to the trade mark owner registered in the CHIP and, provided that the email address of the domain name registrant or administrative contact is available, an additional notification will be sent to these email addresses as well.

This experience will prove very pertinent in the implementation of the Trademark Claims service for .OVH.
The Trademark Claims service will be offered for at least the first 60 days that registration is open for general registration. The purpose of this service is to provide clear notice to a prospective registrant of the scope of a particular trade mark ownerʹs rights in order to minimize the chilling effect on registrants (Trademark Claims Notice).

The .OVH registry will comply with all requirements set out by ICANN in relation to the Trademark Claims service and described in clause 6.1 of the Schedule relating to the Trademark Clearinghouse of the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook in its version of 11 January 2012 or in any subsequent version published by ICANN.


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4 - Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)

Whilst the role of registry operators is rather limited under the UDRP as responsibility for implementation is primarily placed on registrars, the .OVH registry is committed to fully cooperate so as to ensure the implementation of all UDRP decisions.

The UDRP was adopted in 1999 by ICANN as a means of providing trade mark owners with a relatively fast and cheap alternative dispute resolution mechanism to tackle cases of abusive use of their trade marks in a domain name. OVH will monitor and maintain a record of all UDRP decisions involving a domain name registered under the .OVH.

AFNIC has implemented alternative dispute resolution procedures similar to the UDRP, including the so-called SYRELI procedure (Systéme de Résolution des Litiges), introduced on 21 October 2011 which applies to disputes involving domain names registered within the ccTLDs under the responsibility of AFNIC. This procedure is administered by AFNIC itself and illustrates how the .OVH registry back-end service provider is at the forefront of the protection of rights of third parties in the domain name space.


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5 - Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (PDDRP)

The .OVH registry is committed to prevent the occurrence of the type of circumstances the PDDRP is designed to address. The registry completely understands the PDDRP mechanism and its rationale. and is fully committed to comply with the PDDRP and to implement decisions rendered under the PDDRP on an on-going basis and to fully cooperate in this respect.


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6 - Registry Restrictions Dispute Resolution Procedure (RRDRP)

The .OVH registry is committed to prevent the occurrence of the type of circumstances the RRDRP is designed to address. The registry completely understands the RRDRP mechanism and its rationale. and is fully committed to comply with the RRDRP and to implement decisions rendered under the RRDRP on an on-going basis and to fully cooperate in this respect.


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7 - Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS)

In light of the anticipated expansion of the Domain Name System with the future delegation of new Top Level Domains, The IRT proposed in its Final Report of 29 May 2009 a new mechanism to tackle those ʺcases in which there is no genuine contestable issue as to the infringement and abuse that is taking placeʺ. This new rights protection mechanism was retained by ICANN and the .OVH registry is fully aware of all requirements of the URS and will implement decisions under the URS on an on-going basis and in a timely fashion.

Within 24 hours of receipt of the Notice of Complaint from the URS Provider by email, the .OVH registry will lock the disputed domain name thereby restricting all changes to the registration data, including transfer and deletion of the disputed domain name. In such instance, the disputed domain name will continue to resolve. Upon locking the disputed domain name, OVH will immediately send a Notice of Lock to the URS Provider.

The obligations placed on registry operators by the URS also include an obligation to suspend a disputed domain name immediately upon receipt of a determination in favour of a complainant, so that the disputed domain name remains suspended for the reminder of the registration period and does not resolve to the original website.

Interestingly, the .OVH registry back-end service provider used to administer an alternative dispute resolution procedure similar to the URS, the PREDEC procedure (Procédure de Résolution des cas de violation manifeste des dispositions du décret du 6 février 2007) which is a further illustration of AFNICʹs advance in the field of rights protection mechanisms.


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8 - Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)

As highlighted in answer to question 28, the .OVH registry back-end service provider completed the development of DNSSEC. This system was put in place to ensure the security of domain names by activating an authentication chain. In this way, all registrars will be able to use their automated EPP to communicate signature elements concerning domain names to AFNIC. As a result, the authentication chain will be secured. More specifically, this system, will prevent attacks aimed at capturing and diverting queries without users realising it, thus avoiding the risk that users may disclose personal data in the belief that they are on the legitimate site of the attack victim (cache poisoning). AFNIC will deploy its experience of DNSSEC within .OVH.


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9 - Abusive Use Policy and Takedown procedures

As highlighted in answer to question 28, AFNIC, as the Applicantʹs registry back-end service provider, will design and implement an Abusive Use Policy in order to reduce opportunities for malicious conducts such as phishing or spamming. Such Abusive Use Policy includes a takedown procedure, as explained in response to question 28.

All reports will be treated by the registry as following :
* Acknowledgment of the complaint,
* Immediate report sent to the registrant and demanding an prompt reply
* Further checking proceeded by OVH staff,
* Within 48 hours and without correction by the customer of the fraudulent or malicious activity, the registry locks the domain name reported,
* Within 48 hours and without correction by the customer of the fraudulent or malicious activity, the registry suspends the domain name reported.

Furthermore, OVH as a webhoster is used to dealing with abuse reports and facing fraudulent or illicit activities. OVH has its own abuse team and has a strong experience to collaborate with trademarks holders, CERT units, copyright agencies, legal and criminal authorities etc.


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10 - Registrant Pre-Verification and Eligibility Requirements

The .OVH registry will implement a Naming Policy for .OVH which will define, inter alia, eligibility requirements and conditions as well as undertakings aimed at preventing abusive registrations within .OVH. The .OVH registry Naming Policy will need to be accepted by each registrant of .OVH in order to be able to register a domain name under .OVH and each registrant will need to make a representation that it meets the eligibility requirements and provide any evidence of the same, as may be required from the Applicant. The registry reserves the right to reject a request for domain name registration if the eligibility requirements are not met by a particular prospective registrant. By accepting the terms of the Naming Policy, each registrant under .OVH will undertake not to use any domain names under .OVH in an abusive, infringing or detrimental manner so as to prevent detriment to trade mark owners, the public interest and other third party rights owners.

The domain selection will be free, as long as the demand is not incompatible neither with the rules of trademark regulations nor with the list of reserved expression that will be kept up to date by OVH.
OVHʹs legal department will make sure that the aforementioned conditions are respected. If this was not the case, it will engage the necessary procedures to settle the possible bone of contention.

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11 - Resources

The .OVH registry, have an adequate level of resources on hand and committed to carry out the implementation of all rights protection mechanisms set out in this response to answer 29.

The .OVH registry has a substantial knowledge, awareness and experience of targeted and pragmatic rights protection mechanisms and will deploy this experience to (1) prevent abusive registrations, and (2) identify and address the abusive use of registered domain names on an on-going basis.

The .OVH registry considers training to be a major focus of its human resources management policy. It therefore applies an ambitious training policy in line with its strategy, with developments in domain name services and with technology. OVH is committed to the development of the skills of its employees and the promotion of their efficiency and adaptability by providing training to its employees in order to ensure the most efficient implementation of all right protection mechanisms.

The .OVH registry will ensure that suitable resources and staffing are available and committed.

More specifically, OVH has a dedicated legal⁄compliance department responsible for monitoring and addressing issues of abuse and infringement such as those highlighted above.

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