Newflash: Donuts Launches Phishing Protection Service & Launch of .CPA

TMCH adds .COM to its Ongoing Notifications offering

As part of its continuous effort to increase the value of TMCH records, the Trademark Clearinghouse has announced that it has added .COM to its Ongoing Notifications service. Owners of trade mark records in the TMCH will be notified of any third party domain name registrations completed under .COM, which match the labels linked to their trade mark.

The increased coverage of the Ongoing Notifications service will provide an enhanced view for brand owners of any potential intellectual property infringements. This service is complimentary and has been added automatically, therefore no action is required. If you would like to review the trade marks you currently have recorded in the TMCH, please contact your Client Manager.

Launch of .CPA

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is the Registry operator for this new gTLD. This is a restricted TLD, reserved for the following categories:

• Persons or entities who possess an active licence, or equivalent credential, to practice as:
  • Certified public accountant
  • Certified practicing accountant
  • Chartered professional accountant
  • CPA firm issued by a national, state or other regulatory body that is approved by the Registry Operator and authorised to hold themselves out as a CPA or CPA firm.
• A not-for-profit professional organisation exclusively engaged in supporting the CPA profession and/or in representing the profession’s interests.

* Tentative date, awaiting final confirmation.

Please contact your Client Manager directly for fees and assistance with eligibility.

Identity Digital launches TrueName Phishing Protection service

Registry operator Identity Digital, who are responsible for more than 200 new gTLDs including .LIVE, .WORLD and .EMAIL to name but a few, has now launched a homoglyph blocking service. The service aims to prevent online impersonation of brands by blocking the registration of IDN domains, which deliberately use homoglyph characters (lookalike characters in other scripts) to cause confusion with genuinely registered domains under the same TLD. Whilst the service operates across all of the TLDs operated by Identity Digital, only homoglyph domains under the same TLD as the Anchor Domain will be blocked.

The homoglyph variants are blocked by the Registry automatically and can be unblocked in prescribed circumstances:

• Where the registrant is the “Anchor Domain Owner” meaning they own the domain on which the homoglyph variation is based
• Where the registrant is the trade mark owner and wants to register their own homoglyph variation
• Where it is believed that a domain has been blocked in error by the algorithm, then it is possible to appeal to Identity Digital to request an override.

The service applies to both new and existing registrations. The service is complimentary and added automatically, therefore no action is required.

For further information, please contact us or your Client Manager.