29 Rights Protection Mechanisms

Prototypical answer:

29.1. Rights Protection Mechanisms

DotBook, LLC (“DotBook”) is firmly committed to the protection of Intellectual Property rights and to implementing the mandatory rights protection mechanisms for the .book TLD as contained in the Applicant Guidebook and detailed in Specification 7 of the Registry Agreement. DotBook recognizes that although the New gTLD program includes significant protections beyond those that were mandatory for a number of the current TLDs, a key motivator for DotBook’s selection of Neustar as its registry services provider is Neustar’s experience in successfully launching a number of TLDs with diverse rights protection mechanisms, including many the ones required in the Applicant Guidebook. More specifically, DotBook will implement the following rights protection mechanisms in accordance with the Applicant Guidebook as further described below:

• Trademark Clearinghouse: a one-stop shop so that trademark holders can protect their trademarks with a single registration.
• Sunrise and Trademark Claims processes for the TLD.
• Implementation of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy to address domain names that have been registered and used in bad faith in the TLD.
• Uniform Rapid Suspension: A quicker, more efficient and cheaper alternative to the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy to deal with clear cut cases of cybersquatting.
• Implementation of a Thick WHOIS making it easier for rights holders to identify and locate infringing parties

A. Trademark Clearinghouse Including Sunrise and Trademark Claims
The first mandatory rights protection mechanism (“RPM”) required to be implemented by each new gTLD Registry is support for, and interaction with, the trademark clearinghouse. The trademark clearinghouse is intended to serve as a central repository for information to be authenticated, stored and disseminated pertaining to the rights of trademark holders. The data maintained in the clearinghouse will support and facilitate other RPMs, including the mandatory Sunrise Period and Trademark Claims service. Although many of the details of how the trademark clearinghouse will interact with each registry operator and registrars, DotBook is actively monitoring the developments of the Implementation Assistance Group (“IAG”) designed to assist ICANN staff in firming up the rules and procedures associated with the policies and technical requirements for the trademark clearinghouse. In addition, DotBook’s back-end registry services provider is actively participating in the IAG to ensure that the protections afforded by the clearinghouse and associated RPMs are feasible and implementable.Utilizing the trademark clearinghouse, all operators of new gTLDs must offer: (i) a sunrise registration service for at least 30 days during the pre-launch phase giving eligible trademark owners an early opportunity to register second-level domains in new gTLDs; and (ii) a trademark claims service for at least the first 60 days that second-level registrations are open. The trademark claim service is intended to provide clear noticeʺ to a potential registrant of the rights of a trademark owner whose trademark is registered in the clearinghouse. DotBook’s registry service provider for the .book, Neustar, has already implemented Sunrise and⁄or Trademark Claims programs for numerous TLDs including .biz, .us, .travel, .tel and .co and will implement the both of these services on behalf of the .book TLD.

Neustar’s Experience in Implementing Sunrise and Trademark Claims Processes
In early 2002, Neustar became the first registry operator to launch a successful authenticated Sunrise process. This process permitted qualified trademark owners to pre-register their trademarks as domain names in the .us TLD space prior to the opening of the space to the general public. Unlike any other “Sunrise” plans implemented (or proposed before that time), Neustar validated the authenticity of Trademark applications and registrations with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Subsequently, as the back-end registry operator for the .tel gTLD and the .co ccTLD, Neustar launched validated Sunrise programs employing processes. These programs are very similar to those that are to be employed by the Trademark Clearinghouse for new gTLDs. Below is a high level overview of the implementation of the .co Sunrise period that demonstrates Neustar’s experience and ability to provide a Sunrise service and an overview of Neustar’s experience in implementing a Trademark Claims program to trademark owners for the launch of .BIZ. Neustar’s experience in each of these rights protection mechanisms will enable it to seamlessly provide these services on behalf of DotBook and the .book TLD as required by ICANN.

a) Sunrise and .co

The Sunrise process for .co was divided into two sub-phases:
• Local Sunrise giving holders of eligible trademarks that have obtained registered status from the Colombian trademark office the opportunity apply for the .CO domain names corresponding with their marks
• Global Sunrise program giving holders of eligible registered trademarks of national effect, that have obtained a registered status in any country of the world the opportunity apply for the .CO domain names corresponding with their marks for a period of time before registration is open to the public at large.

Like the new gTLD process set forth in the Applicant Guidebook, trademark owners had to have their rights validated by a Clearinghouse provider prior to the registration being accepted by the Registry. The Clearinghouse used a defined process for checking the eligibility of the legal rights claimed as the basis of each Sunrise application using official national trademark databases and submitted documentary evidence.
Applicants and⁄or their designated agents had the option of interacting directly with the Clearinghouse to ensure their applications were accurate and complete prior to submitting them to the Registry pursuant to an optional “Pre-validation Process”. Whether or not an applicant was “pre-validated”, the applicant had to submit its corresponding domain name application through an accredited registrar. When the Applicant was pre-validated through the Clearinghouse, each was given an associated approval number that it had to supply the registry. If they were not pre-validated, applicants were required to submit the required trademark information through their registrar to the Registry.As the registry level, Neustar, subsequently either delivered the:

• Approval number and domain name registration information to the Clearinghouse
• When there was no approval number, trademark information and the domain name registration information was provided to the Clearinghouse through EPP (as is currently required under the Applicant Guidebook).

Information was then used by the Clearinghouse as either further validation of those pre-validated applications, or initial validation of those that did not go through pre-validation. If the applicant was validated and their trademark matched the domain name applied-for, the Clearinghouse communicated that fact to the Registry via EPP. When there was only one validated sunrise application, the application proceeded to registration when the .co launched. If there were multiple validated applications (recognizing that there could be multiple trademark owners sharing the same trademark), those were included in the .co Sunrise auction process. Neustar tracked all of the information it received and the status of each application and posted that status on a secure Website to enable trademark owners to view the status of its Sunrise application. Although the exact process for the Sunrise program and its interaction between the trademark owner, Registry, Registrar, and IP Clearinghouse is not completely defined in the Applicant Guidebook and is dependent on the current RFI issued by ICANN in its selection of a Trademark Clearinghouse provider, Neustar’s expertise in launching multiple Sunrise processes and its established software will implement a smooth and compliant Sunrise process for the new gTLDs.

b) Trademark Claims Service Experience
With Neustar’s biz TLD launched in 2001, Neustar became the first TLD with a Trademark Claims service. Neustar developed the Trademark Claim Service by enabling companies to stake claims to domain names prior to the commencement of live .biz domain registrations. During the Trademark Claim process, Neustar received over 80,000 Trademark Claims from entities around the world. Recognizing that multiple intellectual property owners could have trademark rights in a particular mark, multiple Trademark Claims for the same string were accepted. All applications were logged into a Trademark Claims database managed by Neustar.

The Trademark Claimant was required to provide various information about their trademark rights, including the:
• Particular trademark or service mark relied on for the trademark Claim
• Date a trademark application on the mark was filed, if any, on the string of the domain name
• Country where the mark was filed, if applicable
• Registration date, if applicable
• Class or classes of goods and services for which the trademark or service mark was registered
• Name of a contact person with whom to discuss the claimed trademark rights.

Once all Trademark Claims and domain name applications were collected, Neustar then compared the claims contained within the Trademark Claims database with its database of collected domain name applications (DNAs). In the event of a match between a Trademark Claim and a domain name application, an e-mail message was sent to the domain name applicant notifying the applicant of the existing Trademark Claim. The e-mail also stressed that if the applicant chose to continue the application process and was ultimately selected as the registrant, the applicant would be subject to Neustar’s dispute proceedings if challenged by the Trademark Claimant for that particular domain name. The domain name applicant had the option to proceed with the application or cancel the application. Proceeding on an application meant that the applicant wanted to go forward and have the application proceed to registration despite having been notified of an existing Trademark Claim. By choosing to “cancel,” the applicant made a decision in light of an existing Trademark Claim notification to not proceed. If the applicant did not respond to the e-mail notification from Neustar, or elected to cancel the application, the application was not processed. This resulted in making the applicant ineligible to register the actual domain name. If the applicant affirmatively elected to continue the application process after being notified of the claimant’s (or claimants’) alleged trademark rights to the desired domain name, Neustar processed the application. This process is very similar to the one ultimately adopted by ICANN and incorporated in the latest version of the Applicant Guidebook. Although the collection of Trademark Claims for new gTLDs will be by the Trademark Clearinghouse, many of the aspects of Neustar’s Trademark Claims process in 2001 are similar to those in the Applicant Guidebook. This makes Neustar uniquely qualified to implement the new gTLD Trademark Claims process.
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B. Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS)

UDRP
Prior to joining Neustar, Mr. Neuman was a key contributor to the development of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”) in 1998. This became the first “Consensus Policy” of ICANN and has been required to be implemented by all domain name registries since that time. The UDRP is intended as an alternative dispute resolution process to transfer domain names from those that have registered and used domain names in bad faith. Although there is not much of an active role that the domain name registry plays in the implementation of the UDRP, Neustar has closely monitored UDRP decisions that have involved the TLDs for which it supports and ensures that the decisions are implemented by the registrars supporting its TLDs. When alerted by trademark owners of failures to implement UDRP decisions by its registrars, Neustar either proactively implements the decisions itself or reminds the offending registrar of its obligations to implement the decision.

URS
In response to complaints by trademark owners that the UDRP was too cost prohibitive and slow, and the fact that more than 70 percent of UDRP cases were “clear cut” cases of cybersquatting, ICANN adopted the IRT’s recommendation that all new gTLD registries be required, pursuant to their contracts with ICANN, to take part in a Uniform Rapid Suspension System (“URS”). The purpose of the URS is to provide a more cost effective and timely mechanism for brand owners than the UDRP to protect their trademarks and to promote consumer protection on the Internet. The URS is not meant to address Questionable cases of alleged infringement (e.g., use of terms in a generic sense) or for anti-competitive purposes or denial of free speech, but rather for those cases in which there is no genuine contestable issue as to the infringement and abuse that is taking place.
Unlike the UDRP which requires little involvement of gTLD registries, the URS envisages much more of an active role at the registry-level. For example, rather than requiring the registrar to lock down a domain name subject to a UDRP dispute, it is the registry under the URS that must lock the domain within 24hours of receipt of the complaint from the URS Provider to restrict all changes to the registration data, including transfer and deletion of the domain names. In addition, in the event of a determination in favor of the complainant, the registry is required to suspend the domain name. This suspension remains for the balance of the registration period and would not resolve the original website. Rather, the nameservers would be redirected to an informational web page provided by the URS Provider about the URS. Additionally, the WHOIS reflects that the domain name will not be able to be transferred, deleted, or modified for the life of the registration. Finally, there is an option for a successful complainant to extend the registration period for one additional year at commercial rates. DotBook is fully aware of each of these requirements and will have the capability to implement these requirements for the .book TLDs. In fact, during the IRT’s development of the URS, Neustar began examining the implications of the URS on its registry operations and provided the IRT with feedback on whether the recommendations from the IRT would be feasible for registries to implement. Although there have been a few changes to the URS since the IRT recommendations, Neustar continued to participate in the development of the URS by providing comments to ICANN, many of which were adopted. As a result, Neustar is committed to supporting the URS for all of the registries that it provides back-end registry services.

C. Implementation of Thick WHOIS
The .book TLD registry will include a thick WHOIS database as required in Specification 4 of the Registry agreement. A thick WHOIS provides numerous advantages including a centralized location of registrant information, the ability to more easily manage and control the accuracy of data, and a consistent user experience.

D. Policies Handling Complaints Regarding Abuse
In addition the Rights Protection mechanisms addressed above, DotBook will implement a number of measures to handle complaints regarding the abusive registration of domain names in the .book TLD as described in DotBook’s response to Question 28.

Registry Acceptable Use Policy
One of the key policies each new gTLD registry is the need to have is an Acceptable Use Policy that clearly delineates the types of activities that constitute “abuse” and the repercussions associated with an abusive domain name registration. The policy must be incorporated into the applicable Registry-Registrar Agreement and reserve the right for the registry to take the appropriate actions based on the type of abuse. This may include locking down the domain name preventing any changes to the contact and nameserver information associated with the domain name, placing the domain name “on hold” rendering the domain name non-resolvable, transferring to the domain name to another registrar, and⁄or in cases in which the domain name is associated with an existing law enforcement investigation, substituting name servers to collect information about the DNS queries to assist the investigation. DotBook’s Acceptable Use Policy, set forth in our response to Question 28, will include prohibitions on phishing, pharming, dissemination of malware, fast flux hosting, hacking, child pornography, or the illicit promotion or sale of harmful substances. In addition, the policy will include the right of the registry to take action necessary to deny, cancel, suspend, lock, or transfer any registration in violation of the policy.

Monitoring for Malicious Activity
DotBook is committed to ensuring that those domain names associated with abuse or malicious conduct in violation of the Acceptable Use Policy are dealt with in a timely and decisive manner. These include taking action against those domain names that are being used to threaten the stability and security of the .book TLD, or is part of a real-time investigation by law enforcement. Once a complaint is received from a trusted source, third-party, or detected by the Registry, the Registry will use commercially reasonable efforts to verify the information in the complaint. If that information can be verified to the best of the ability of the Registry, the sponsoring registrar will be notified and be given 12 hours to investigate the activity and either take down the domain name by placing the domain name on hold or by deleting the domain name in its entirety or providing a compelling argument to the Registry to keep the name in the zone. If the registrar has not taken the requested action after the 12-hour period (i.e., is unresponsive to the request or refuses to take action), the Registry will place the domain on “ServerHold”. Although this action removes the domain name from the .book TLD zone, the domain name record still appears in the .book TLD WHOIS database so that the name and entities can be investigated by law enforcement should they desire to get involved.

29.2 Safeguards Against Unqualified Registrations
The DotBook registryʹs mission is to establish .book as the most preferred top level domain for global book industry stakeholders and the book consumers that purchase from them. To ensure our success in this endeavor, it is vital that publisher and author registrants be safeguarded from abusive registrations, even in a non-trademark capacity, that might be used to promote unauthorized access to copyrighted text and image based works legally assigned to such stakeholders. DotBook will provide both a Trademark Claims and a Sunrise Service as part of its registry operations to mitigate unqualified registrations. The illegal copying of books remains fairly common, especially for purposes of education. While statistics are difficult to determine precisely, a 2007 estimate by Video Business stated that $18.2 billion had potentially been lost over the prior decade due to piracy activities in the United States alone, although that number also includes music and movies. Copyright protection of text-based works, while not directly related to this TLD, is of primary concern in the context of registrations since most book titles cannot be trademarked. A lack of safeguards against unqualified registrations could result in situations where title-based domains for books (TheDaVinciCode.book) that are not in the public domain could be secured by registrants who do not have legal rights to distribute them. For most companies, a trademark is more than just a name or symbol used in identification of products and services. It represents the value of the brand in the marketplace. For publisher and author registrants, often the most easily recognized brand is not the publisher or imprint name, or even the author - names which can usually be trademarked. It is, in fact, the title of the book itself, which in most cases, is not subject to trademark protection. And so while the internet can become a highly effective tool for promoting and extending book brands, it also has the potential to provide numerous opportunities for unscrupulous parties to steal brand equity or sell unauthorized copies in the global market.

The USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) classifies books in the class of “paper goods,ʺ although it is questionable whether this classification represents an accurate definition of a book in the 21st century. Nevertheless, this class is one of the most challenged in qualifying for trademark protection. The applicant has to be using the “mark”—that is, the book title—for at least three different products in that class. There could be a series of books under a common title (Chicken Soup for The Soul, Twilight, Harry Potter), or three different products: a book, a workbook, and a supplement to the book all under the same title. But there is no real way to protect the title of a single book, either through trademark or through copyright. To address the potential for unqualified registrations around individual titles, DotBook will create a safeguard clearinghouse mechanism to pre-validate that book titles are assigned to the appropriate party during the Sunrise period. In anticipation of such risks, DotBook will be implementing specific and targeted preventive IP protection mechanisms that will greatly reduce the risk of new .book applicants capturing title domains and turning them into cybersquatting channels. DotBook will implement a credible, legitimate and cost-effective process for protecting content IP owners as well as trademark owners, and thus preserve the legitimacy and credibility of the entire domain.

Safeguards for Title Domains: The principles of our safeguard clearinghouse for title domains will be as follows:

• To assign title domains with a current registered electronic rights holder to that person or entity if the rights holder submits an application in the sunrise period.
• To assign title domains without a registered electronic rights holder to either the publisher or author in an auction process if applications are submitted in the same phase, or on a first-come, first-serve basis, if only one party submits an application in the sunrise period.
• To assign title domains for titles shared by more than one party in an auction process if the applications are submitted in the same phase, to the first rights holder on a first-come, first-serve basis if only one application is submitted in the sunrise period.
• To assign title domains for public domain works in an auction process if more than one publisher who has previously published the work submit applications in the same phase, or on a first-come, first-serve basis if only one publisher submits an application during the sunrise period.

The Sunrise Service: The objective of the sunrise period will be as follows:
• To ensure trademark protection across all book industry stakeholders.
• To ensure electronic copyright verification for IP rights holders who want to secure title domains
• To give ample time to publishers and authors to identify their domain needs and collect the necessary contractual documentation that establishes their IP rights as part of a pre-validation service
• To implement a fair and equitable auction process in circumstances where a title name is common to more than one party, or in cases where both author and publisher have applied for the domain and electronic rights to the underlying work have not been legally established.
• To ensure the protection of first level geographic names (France.book) and their assignment to each countryʹs authoritative representative and publisher of their Books In Print country catalog.
• To avoid legal disputes related to multiple claims on single titles, and on abusive or unqualified registration risks.

Pre-Validation Eligibility: As a prerequisite to the clearinghouse mechanism, authors and publishers of record will be granted up to 24 months (or less based on a phased approach) to submit applications for titles that have already been assigned ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) and that can identify their status as either publisher or author. The International Standard Book Number is a 10-digit or 13-digit coding system allowing publishers, libraries, and booksellers to identify individual books and to associate these specific books with their rightful publishers and authors. Each ISBN is unique to a specific book and is typically found over or under the bar code on the bookʹs back cover and on the title or copyright page. For titles that have already been published, we will establish a pre-validation process during the sunrise period. For books published after 1970 when ISBNs were first established, this process will match the applicant with the publisher or author of record for a given ISBN identifier number. For works published prior to the issuance of the ISBN, or in the absence of an assigned ISBN, DotBook will request validating documentation from the applicant that can be verified with other third party verification sources. For the duration of the sunrise period, no applications will be accepted for title domains for already published works from anyone other than the publisher or author of record.

Publishers and authors using pre-verification in the sunrise period will be given a validation code, which can be used to alert the registrar that the application is accepted. By using ISBNs as an eligibility validation requirement and by offering an extended sunrise period, we anticipate that any eligible author or publisher interested in securing a .book domain for their book title will be able to do so prior to the Landrush phase. In the event of competing validated parties (say, both author and publisher where no electronic IP owners are specified or two authors who have used identical titles for their books) the registry will utilize an auction process during the sunrise phase. Following the sunrise phase, all such assignments will be made on a first-come, first-serve basis.

To help insure accuracy in our domain registration process during the sunrise phase, DotBook will also work in close collaboration with The International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO), an independent organization established on the basis of the fundamental international copyright principles embodied in the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions. Its purpose is to facilitate, on an international basis, the collective management of reproduction and other rights relevant to copyrighted works through the co-operation of national Reproduction Rights Organizations (RROs) around the world. To accomplish its mission, IFRRO fosters the development of information-exchange systems and effective methods for conveyance of rights and fees among rightsholders and users. IFRRO facilitates co-operation among RROs as well as with and among creators, publishers and their associations.

Whether or not a book is in the public domain or has a legal IP rights holder can be a tricky legal question for some works but not for the vast majority of them. A public domain work is a creative work that is not protected by copyright and which may be freely used by everyone. Reasons why the work is not protected could include: (1) the term of copyright for the work has expired; (2) the author failed to satisfy statutory formalities to perfect the copyright or (3) the work is a work of the U.S. Government. For books already in the public domain that no longer have rights holders, applications will be accepted throughout the sunrise period on a first-come, first-serve basis from any publisher who has previously published the work, unless two publishers submit applications at the same time. Following the sunrise period, all public domain works (PrideAndPrejudice.book) and related author names (JaneAustin.book) will be made available to all applicants on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Despite some exceptions, there is minor ambiguity over which publishers have rights to which titles that are not in the public domain as these rights are usually spelled out in contractual agreements between publishers and authors, as well as among publishers. In some cases, however, the work is not yet in the public domain but the name of the author or copyright owner cannot be firmly established. These works are called orphan works. Attempts will not be made in the sunrise period to register orphan works unless a legitimate copyright owner can be firmly established. As part of the pre-validation eligibility process, DotBook will require a legal contract stating electronic rights be submitted along with the application. These pre-verification mechanisms, while not expensive or onerous, will lengthen the processing time for the acceptance of applications but will ultimately increase stakeholder adoption and ensure confidence in the legitimacy of the .book domain.

In addition to IP rights, there are also publishing rights which must be considered as well in the allocation of .book domains. For example, a publisher in one country might contract with multiple publishers in other countries to license a work to representatives who understand the local market. Many of these agreements, often referred to as ʺterritorial rightsʺ in publishing jargon, are part of a print-centric legacy supply chain model that did not envision the global distribution potential of the internet. In the past year there has been ample discussion about the abolishment of territorial rights for books and it is possible to imagine the future of publishing involving global deals, global e-rights and one universal book cover. Richard Charkin, executive director of London-based Bloomsbury recently said he felt territorial restrictions based on countries is ʺobsolete.ʺ But while momentum is building in that direction, unraveling the legacy network of complex territorial rights to books which govern where they can be marketed and displayed will take time. Some publishers already have worldwide rights but others may only have rights in a limited number of countries, or might otherwise have worldwide rights with a couple of notable exceptions. Throughout the sunrise period and afterwards, all competing applications for title domains from more than one publisher with legitimate territory rights will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis unless they are submitted during the same phase, in which case an auction will be conducted.

For all of the reasons stated above, DotBook has determined that an effective sunrise period must be of a sufficient duration to allow for the processing of these applications in an accurate manner, for time to process pre-validation eligibility, and for the unraveling of legacy contractual agreements that we expect will be phased out over time. As such, we have determined that an effective sunrise period might need to last up to two years. We fully expect that initial adoption of the .book domains will be slow throughout this period as publishers adjust to a direct marketing orientation and begin to take ownership over their growing relationship with customers.

Two Year Sunrise Period: The .book domain must secure the support of publishers and authors in order to realize its full potential as a community service capable of bestowing economic benefits to its registrants. The ubiquitous industry adoption of .book domains is a paramount objective of DotBook LLC. Full industry support will maximize the sustainable value of the .book domain to each of its customers because it will result in a resetting of expectations with consumers around how they should search for books. Higher adoption rates will yield marketing efficiencies for all industry participants trying to bring new books to market , as well as those trying to extend the marketability of books already in print.Numerous publishers and authors are already accustomed to marketing and selling books directly on the internet. These companies and individuals will likely serve as early adopters in the space. Publishers like F+W Media and OʹReilly Media, for example, have already embraced a direct sales channel and are now deriving over half of their revenues from digital editions sold directly through their website. Virtually all of the professional and academic publishers make their content available online and have experienced the cost advantages first hand. But the trade publishing market, which currently represents over 50 percent of the publishing output, has been slow to embrace the internet, mainly for contractual reasons.

Given these industry dynamics, DotBook will be implementing a lengthy sunrise period with specific safeguard mechanisms that will be deployed through each phase to ensure potential abuses are mitigated.
The goal of DotBookʹs sunrise period is to ensure that all book stakeholders are able to successfully leverage the brand recognition and value established from their works in the context of the new .book domain assignments, if they choose to do so. We recognize that trademarks are an important business asset for book industry stakeholders and as such, we will be implementing a pre-launch Rights Protection Mechanism (RPM) that will involve a phased sunrise period to fully support the needs of book industry stakeholders and their trademarked brands. Non-trademarked brands will also receive special outreach.
This approach to protecting both trademarked and non-trademarked names is necessitated by the fact that many of the most recognizable ʺbrandsʺ in book publishing are the actual titles of books, which for the most part are not subject to trademark protection. We trust such extra community-oriented measures will greatly reduce the risk of title domains being registered by applicants that do not have the rights to distribute or sell the book, including any portion of its content. Publisher and authors have a tremendous amount of goodwill attached to certain titles that cannot be formally assigned trademark protection. But consumer trust and full stakeholder adoption will be enhanced if consumers can rely on the fact that when they visit a .book domain to purchase a particular title, that seller has the legal distribution rights.The Sunrise period will be in effect for up to two years, with different phases running both concurrently and in succession. All applicants arriving within the timeframe of a given phase will be considered to have arrived at the same time. The longer timeframe is being implemented in support of both authors and publishers. Ultimately, our objective is to allocate desirable terms such as popular title names, semantic subject terms and trademarks fairly and appropriately between eligible claimants from across jurisdictions and to avoid disputes wherever possible.

The Sunrise period (SP) will consist of 4 distinct phases:

SP1: Phase 1 is intended for the submission of applications by book industry stakeholders who are owners of current registered trademarks and can provide such proof in writing via a trademark registration number, a grant date and the country of registration. Potential registrant categories: publishers, publisher imprints, authors, distributors, booksellers, literary agents, libraries, illustrators, photographers, associations, bibliographic agencies, self-publishers and device manufacturers.This phase will also be applied towards the protection of first level geographic names for individual countries and their authoritative representatives. Over 160 countries currently have an official country representative for the assignment of international standard book numbers (ISBN). The International Standard Book Number was approved as an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard number 2108 in 1970. ISO is the worldʹs largest developer and publisher of international standards. Today these agencies serve as the official book registration authorities for their representative countries and maintain the full listing of each countryʹs Books In Print catalog. As such, those representatives will be invited to secure first level geographic names for their countries, names such as Italy.book, and China.book, so that each country can expose the National heritage of its books to its citizens. Potential registrant categories: National ISBN agencies.

SP2: Phase 2 is intended for the submission of applications by book industry stakeholders who are current holders of electronic rights for any and all books published prior to December 31, 2010 (the backlist). Applications will be accepted for book titles where the rights holder can clearly provide written validation of their electronic book rights to the already published title. In this phase, an exact match is required between the title and the domain applied for. Potential registrant categories: publishers, authors, self-publishers.This phase will also be used to accept applications from interested National, State and Academic Libraries, as well as book industry organizations representing key book industry stakeholders ( for example, the Book Industry Study Group, Bowker, Association of American Publishers in the U.S.; the Book Industry Communications and Nielsen in the UK). Potential registrant categories: libraries, associations.

SP3: Phase 3 is intended for the submission of applications by owners of documented electronic rights for book titles published since January 1st 2011 or soon to be published in any jurisdiction (the frontlist). Applications will be accepted for book titles where the rights holder can clearly provide written validation of their electronic book rights to the already published title. In this phase, an exact match is required between the title and the domain applied for. Potential registrant categories: publishers, authors, self-publishers.

SP4: for all other book titles where electronic rights have not been established, including books in the public domain but excluding known orphan works, as well as all other qualified applicants from earlier phases who did not yet submit. Applications which would otherwise have qualified to be submitted in earlier sunrise phases will be processed in this phase on a first come, first serve basis. Potential registrant categories: publishers, self-publishers, authors.

29.3 Resourcing Plans
The rights protection mechanisms described in the response above involve a wide range of tasks, procedures, and systems. The responsibility for each mechanism varies based on the specific requirements. In general the development of applications such as sunrise and IP claims is the responsibility of the Engineering team, with guidance from the Product Management team. Customer Support and Legal play a critical role in
enforcing certain policies such as the rapid suspension process. These teams have years of experience implementing these or similar processes. The necessary resources will be pulled from the pool of available resources described in detail in the response to Question 31. The following resources are available from those teams:

Development⁄Engineering – 19 employees
Product Management- 4 employees
Customer Support – 12 employees
The resources are more than adequate to support the rights protection mechanisms of the .book TLD

Similar gTLD applications: (0)