29 Rights Protection Mechanisms

Prototypical answer:

A. RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISMS TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY BOSCH

BOSCH’s purpose in operating the .bosch domain is to ensure rights protection for BOSCH. In particular, BOSCH seeks to establish a trusted and reliable, branded platform. BOSCH’s proposed use of the .bosch gTLD should, of itself, preclude any abusive registrations from occurring, since all domain names may only be registered in the name of BOSCH and its affiliates in the manner outlined in the response to Question 28. Therefore, BOSCH has resolved to implement the following:


Firstly, BOSCH will have absolute control over the registration and use of .bosch domain names. Only authorized personnel will be able to register a second level domain name for corporate use, and only authorized personnel will be permitted to make Domain Name System (DNS) changes.


Secondly, where BOSCH intends to permit certain entities who are affiliated with BOSCH’s business to register second level domain names within the .bosch domain, BOSCH will require the registrant, through its registration agreement with BOSCH, to ensure that the use of the registration is limited to legitimate uses of the allocated domain name (such use being consistent with the mission and purpose of the .bosch). Any registrants must warrant they will not assign, licence or otherwise permit any other third party to use or link to the subdomain.


Thirdly, BOSCH will participate in, and comply with, the required Rights Protection Mechanisms set forth in the gTLD Applicant Guidebook and Registry Agreement, including the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS), and the Trademark Claims and Sunrise processes.


Fourthly, BOSCH will instruct its service providers to initiate a rapid takedown or suspension based on court orders. BOSCH will comply promptly with any order from a court of competent jurisdiction that directs it to take any action on a domain name that is within its technical capabilities as a gTLD registry. These orders may be issued when abusive content, such as child pornography, counterfeit goods, or illegal pharmaceuticals, is associated with the domain name;


Lastly, BOSCH will also require that its approved Registrar(s) adopt appropriate anti-abuse mechanisms, respond to abuse processes and third party rights protection mechanisms and processes, in dealing with any domain name registrations, renewals and use, on behalf of BOSCH.



B. REGISTRY OPERATOR PROVIDED RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISMS

BOSCH will require its backend registry service provider to provide certain registry operation services, amongst which, are the technical functions required to implement the mechanisms outlined below in respect of sunrise periods, trademark claims periods and the interaction with the Trademark Clearinghouse.



B.1 Sunrise Services

BOSCH acknowledges that, although the .bosch domain is intended to be limited exclusively to registrations by BOSCH and its affiliates as defined in the response to Question 28, the gTLD Applicant Guidebook provides that all new gTLDs must provide a sunrise period before general registration of domain names. During this sunrise period BOSCH may register domain names where BOSCH holds trademark rights. BOSCHʹs backend registry service provider will check for matching trademarks in the Trademark clearinghouse and provide notice to holders of marks in the Clearinghouse that are an identical Match to the name is to be registered during Sunrise.

BOSCH confirms that it will implement the sunrise period for 30 days. Prior to the Sunrise Period commencing, BOSCH will establish and then notify its backed registry service provider of the sunrise eligibility requirements for the gTLD. BOSCH may register domain names which meet the sunrise eligibility requirements. Sunrise eligibility requirements will include that names registered during this period relate to trademarks that are nationally or regionally registered and for which proof of use was submitted to, and validated by the Trademark Clearnhouse, or that have been court validated.

The registration of domain names during this period will be subject to the Sunrise Dispute Resolution Policy (SDRP) consistent with Section 6 of the Trademark Clearinghouse Rules as set forth by ICANN.


The SDRP will allow challenges based on at least the following four grounds:

(i) at time the challenged domain name was registered, the registrant did
not hold a trademark registration of national effect (or regional effect) or the
trademark had not been court-validated or protected by statute or treaty;

(ii) the domain name is not identical to the mark on which the registrant based its Sunrise
registration;

(iii) the trademark registration on which the registrant based its Sunrise
registration is not of national effect (or regional effect) or the trademark had not
been court-validated or protected by statute or treaty; or

(iv) the trademark registration on which the domain name registrant based its Sunrise registration did
not issue on or before the effective date of the Registry Agreement and was not applied for on or before ICANN announced the applications received.



B.2 Trademark Claims Service

In respect of the .bosch domain, BOSCH will will require its backend registry service provider to provide a Trademark Claims service for a minimum of sixty (60) days after it completed its sunrise period. During this period, BOSCH may register domain names where it does not have trademarks, such as generic words related to its products and services. BOSCHʹs backend registry service provider (or its approved registrars on its behalf) shall validate each request for registration of a domain name against trademarks registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse and shall (where applicable) provide notice to each prospective Registrant of a domain name that it is an identical match (as defined in the gTLD Applicant Guidebook) to the mark holder validated in the Trademark Clearinghouse, in the form required by ICANN. The Approved Registrar(s) will then require each registrant to provide the warranties set out in the gTLD Applicant Guidebook before registration of the particular domain name. Those warranties will include receipt and understanding of the Trademark Claims Notice and confirmation that registration and use of said domain name will not infringe on the trademark rights of the mark holders listed. Without receipt of said warranties, BOSCHʹs backend registry service provider or BOSCH’s approved Registrar will not process the domain name registration.

Following the registration of a domain name, the holders of trademarks that have been previously validated by the Trademark Clearinghouse as an identical match, will receive a notice of the domain name registration by BOSCHʹs backend registry service provider or BOSCH’s approved Registrar (as applicable), in the form required by ICANN.



B.3 General registration period

Following the expiry of the Trademark Claims service, BOSCH may require its backend registry service provider and its appointed registrar(s) to nevertheless continue to require potential domain names in the .bosch domain to be validated against trademarks registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse as part of its internal approval process prior to the registration being approved. This will be subject to the final rules for the Trademark Clearinghouse, and reasonable commercial terms for the on-going use of the Trademark Clearinghouse for this purpose.

BOSCH will implement processes to enable Internet users or third parties to lodge complaints about any domain names in the .bosch which the complainant claims is infringing a third party’s intellectual property rights in some way. These processes will include mechanisms for rapid suspension of an infringing domain name (including but not limited to via ICANN’s URS system). The abuse point of contact resources described in the response to Question 28 above will also be tasked with responding to complaints in relation to rights protection.



C. Dispute Resolution

BOSCH will comply with the dispute resolution mechanisms required by ICANN including the Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (PDDRP), the Registration Restriction Dispute Resolution Procedure (RRDRP), the URS, and the UDRP. All registrations of domain names will be subject to compliance with the above procedures and policies, should any relevant disputes occur. BOSCH will act as the primary contact for handling inquiries relating to malicious conduct in the gTLD. The primary contact will investigate and respond to all complaints and incidents within a reasonable time and be empowered to take effective action within well-defined written criteria to guide those actions. Action will be taken in line with what is set out in the answers to Question 28 and 29 and the registration policy for the .bosch.



D. Resource planning

Resource planning specific to backend Registry activities

Verisign, BOSCH’s selected backend registry services provider, is an experienced backend registry provider that has developed a set of proprietary resourcing models to project the number and type of personnel resources necessary to operate a TLD. Verisign routinely adjusts these staffing models to account for new tools and process innovations. These models enable Verisign to continually right-size its staff to accommodate projected demand and meet service level agreements as well as Internet security and stability requirements. Using the projected usage volume for the most likely scenario (defined in Question 46, Template 1 – Financial Projections: Most Likely) as an input to its staffing models, Verisign derived the necessary personnel levels required for this gTLD’s initial implementation and ongoing maintenance. Verisign’s pricing for the backend registry services it provides to BOSCH fully accounts for cost related to this infrastructure, which is included in the registry services provider costs in Section I.K “Outsourcing Operating Costs” within the Question 46 financial projections response.

Verisign employs more than 1,040 individuals of which more than 775 comprise its technical work force. (Current statistics are publicly available in Verisign’s quarterly filings.) Drawing from this pool of on-hand and fully committed technical resources, Verisign has maintained DNS operational accuracy and stability 100 percent of the time for more than 13 years for .com, proving Verisign’s ability to align personnel resource growth to the scale increases of Verisign’s TLD service offerings.

Verisign projects it will use the following personnel roles, which are described in Section 5 of the response to Question 31, Technical Overview of Proposed Registry, to support the implementation of RPMs:

- Customer Affairs Organization: 9

- Customer Support Personnel: 36

- Information Security Engineers: 11


To implement and manage the .bosch gTLD as described in this application, Verisign, BOSCH’s selected backend registry services provider, scales, as needed, the size of each technical area now supporting its portfolio of TLDs. Consistent with its resource modeling, Verisign periodically reviews the level of work to be performed and adjusts staff levels for each technical area.

When usage projections indicate a need for additional staff, Verisign’s internal staffing group uses an in-place staffing process to identify qualified candidates. These candidates are then interviewed by the lead of the relevant technical area. By scaling one common team across all its TLDs instead of creating a new entity to manage only this proposed gTLD, Verisign realizes significant economies of scale and ensures its TLD best practices are followed consistently. This consistent application of best practices helps ensure the security and stability of both the Internet and this proposed gTLD, as Verisign holds all contributing staff members accountable to the same procedures that guide its execution of the Internet’s largest TLDs (i.e., .com and .net). Moreover, by augmenting existing teams, Verisign affords new employees the opportunity to be mentored by existing senior staff. This mentoring minimizes start-up learning curves and helps ensure that new staff members properly execute their duties.



Resource planning registrars

BOSCH has effectively mitigated the risk of abusive registrations and ther activities that affect the legal rights of others. BOSCH will engage its selected back end registry services provider, Verisign to perform some or all of the tasks associated with abuse issues. This will ensure that highly skilled, specialized and scalable resources are on hand to address any possible abuse issues both during the startup phase of the TLD and continually during operations of the TLD.



E. Conclusion

The approach outlined in this answer clearly shows that the risk of abuse in the .bosch TLD has been extensively mitigated and as a direct result is very low.

Similar gTLD applications: (1)