The .info names are not yet open to the public to register.
Instead, Afilias is currently running what it calls a Sunrise
Period, during which trade mark owners can lay claim to .info
names, intended as a precaution against cybersquatters taking the
names. The trade mark owners are required to submit details of
their trade mark – such as the trade mark number and year of
registration. However, nobody checks the validity of the claims at
this stage. It means that someone can claim a .info name by
fabricating trade mark details.
Afilias said in a statement issued today:
"...it appears that some registrants have
attempted to circumvent the eligibility requirements by posing as
trade mark holders and registering names in advance of the public
opening on September 12."
Afilias announced plans to directly challenge certain
registrations by using its own challenge process, which is very
similar to the domain name dispute process operated by WUPO, “or
other mechanisms already in place.”
The Afilias challenge process is structured such that genuine
trade mark holders can recover a domain name from a cybersquatter.
So, for example, Microsoft could recover microsoft.info from anyone
else who registers the name with false trade mark details. However,
this does not address the biggest problem, which is with generic
domain names. In most cases, generic words, such as “sex” or
“business” cannot be protected by registered trade mark, but they
make for lucrative domain names. Such words are being claimed under
the .info process with fabricated trade mark details in the hope
that, since nobody is likely to own a trade mark on the word, the
person claiming the name will be unchallenged.
According to Afilias, it will now challenge the registrations by
these individuals. If, after a period for trade mark owners to
challenge others’ claims to .info names, suspicious names remain,
they will be reviewed for challenge directly by Afilias. If
successfully challenged, the company says “they will be equitably
returned to public availability after the completion of the Sunrise
Challenge period”.
Afilias faces criticism that it should have identified and
closed the loophole in its trade mark claim process before launch.
Roland LaPlante, Afilias' Chief Marketing Officer argued that “the
absence of a globally co-ordinated trade mark database precludes us
from being able to pre-screen and verify the trademark information
submitted, thus enabling some potentially illegitimate
registrations.”
