29 Rights Protection Mechanisms

Prototypical answer:

Table of Contents

1 - Sunrise: Criteria; Conflict Resolution; Mechanisms
2 - Compliance Mechanisms. Ongoing Registrations
2.1 - Ex-officio random checks
2.2 - Complaints, Rights Protection.
3 - Dispute Resolution (and Prevention) Mechanisms involving Rights Protection
3.1 - Compliance with ICANN-mandated Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
3.2 - Additional compliance measures related to ICANN-mandated policies
3.2.1 - UDRP
3.2.2 - URS
3.2.3 - TM Notifications
4 - Technical Implementation details
4.1 - Sunrise
4.1.1 - Sunrise EPP Extension Support
4.1.2 - Sunrise Registration Life Cycle Support
4.1.3 - Trademark Clearinghouse Support
4.1.4 - Support for Multiple Applications for the Same Domain Name
4.1.5 - Issue System
4.2 - Trademark Claims
5 - Resourcing Plan
5.1 - Initial Implementation
5.2 - Ongoing maintenance



The .PARIS TLD is fully committed to preventing abusive uses of its namespace, regarding legal rights of third parties, and beyond. It is fully committed to an orderly namespace with clear and effective policies guaranteeing the domain names are used[a] according to the principles of the TLD by the relevant community, as explained in more detail in questions 18 and 20.


In this regard, this is an outline of the Enforcement Policies that have an effect on Rights Protection and which will be implemented under .PARIS. These policies aim to comply fully with and exceed Specification 7 of ICANN’s Registry Agreement.


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1 - Sunrise: Criteria; Conflict Resolution; Mechanisms


As explained in answers to questions 18 and 20, .PARIS Sunrise will consist of a long, orderly Sunrise period during which multiple applications will be accepted and published, and then validated, prioritized and eventually accepted or rejected according to their relative priority.


The Sunrise will have two main Categories, each one with different sub-categories:

* Public Administrations (for public authorities with legal competences in the territory of .PARIS as defined, but also with a last-in-priority phase for other public administrations wishing to protect their names in .PARIS).

* Trademarks, and other Distinctive Signs (with full compliance with the Trademark Clearinghouse process; also giving priority to Trademarks that have legal effect in the relevant territory for the .PARIS TLD, that is : TM registered in France at INPI, European TM registered with OHMI, and International TM in force in France according to the Madrid system).

Each application will be individually validated against both the general requirements of .PARIS registration policies and the specific requirements of each Category or Sub-Category. Priority will be differentiated by Category (and Sub-category) each one having absolute priority over the next one.

Within each Category (and Sub-category) all validated applications will be deemed to carry the same rights. Auction will be the last resort resolution mechanisms for intra (sub-)category concurrent applications, but the party may avoid it by electing for Mediation.

When rejecting an application, the applicant will have one week to notify its intention to appeal the decision (before an independent Mediation and Arbitration Center). In that case, no application for the same name from the same or lower rank in Sunrise priority will be approved, pending the Appeal. If the Appeal decisions ruling that the Registry failed to apply the Sunrise Registration Policies in an adequate manner, will result in the restoration of the domain name which processing will then resume according to the Sunrise Registration Policies (within the category or lower priority categories)

The registry will also offer the TM Claims mechanism as provided by the TM Clearinghouse. This service will be provided not just for the Sunrise period, but also afterwards, during the Ongoing Registration Phase.

Finally, we should underline that there is an additional Category running in parallel during the Sunrise: the No Priority Category, where applicants can apply for the name they wish and will only get it in case no one applies for it on any privileged category (as a “Landrush” mechanism, therefore).


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2 - Compliance Mechanisms. Ongoing Registrations

As explained in question 18 and 20, once in Ongoing (live) Registration mode, the .PARIS Registry will perform ex-post validation based on whois data and use of the domain name, both against the Registrations Policies and, when collected, the Intended Use Statement provided by the registrant[b].


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2.1 - Ex-officio random checks

Checks will be performed by compliance agents both based on complaints and ex-officio, on statistically targeted random checks. Registry will start with 50 such random cases per day, and will adapt the practices according to the experience gained (it is expected that the number will decrease over time, as reputation and enforcement will make compliance easier over time).

Checks will be carried both on compliance with .PARIS policy and at the same time on registrant data accuracy.

In case the compliance agents discover a problem, either on policy compliance or on data accuracy, they will escalate the issue to the Compliance Officers, and the registrant will be contacted to clarify⁄correct the situation. If not solved in due time (30 days), the name will be put on registry hold for 30 additional days. Unless the situation is corrected by this deadline, the name will be removed.

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2.2 - Complaints, Rights Protection.

Similarly, in case of a third-party complaint for infringement of rights of others, the Compliance Officers will request the complainant to compile a specific form including such information as :
* identification of complainant,
* identification of right infringed,
* declaration of good faith belief that the domain name is used to violate said right,
* acceptance of jurisdiction of the Paris courts in case the name is blocked and the registrant wants to sue the complainant for damages.

Then the registrant will be contacted. In case it provides within the following 14 business days a counter-statement with some specific content (identification; signed declaration of non-infringement of rights, with explanation of reasons) the domain name will not be blocked, and the complainant shall use the URS, the UDRP, the .PARIS Eligibility and Registry Restrictions Dispute Resolution Procedure (ERDRP) or file a lawsuit in a competent court. In case the registrant fails to provide all the elements (which will often be the case in blatant violations) the domain name will be put on registry hold.

Against these decisions (not just for Rights Protections, but also in cases of Compliance decisions for Eligibility or use breaches or malicious conduct) the parties may appeal to an independent Mediation and Arbitration Authority according to .PARIS ERDRP.


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3 - Dispute Resolution (and Prevention) Mechanisms involving Rights Protection

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3.1 - Compliance with ICANN-mandated Dispute Resolution Mechanisms

The .PARIS TLD will comply and agrees to adhere to any remedies ICANN imposes on RRDRP and PDDRP, as implemented and amended in the future.

.PARIS further agrees to implement UDRP and URS in the manner established in the .PARIS TLD Agreement and the Consensus Policies.

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3.2 - Additional compliance measures related to ICANN-mandated policies

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3.2.1 - UDRP

While compliance with the UDRP as it is now lies on registrars’ side, .PARIS is not willing to accept non-compliant registrars preventing its implementation. In addition to ICANN-applied sanctions, .PARIS will suspend the ability to register new domain names under .PARIS for those registrars failing to implement UDRP decisions.

In order to do this, .PARIS will implement a specific complaints form for successful UDRP complainants facing non-cooperative registrars for .PARIS names. Upon evidence of non-compliance the offending registrar would be prevented from registering any new .PARIS name for three months after effective compliance the first time, and six months in case of repeated failures to comply. This measure is more effective and less harmful for the end users than termination, and will be included in the .PARIS RRA.

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3.2.2 - URS

.PARIS will immediately comply with URS decisions upon notification from the URS Service provider, through its Compliance Team.

Furthermore, .PARIS will offer the successful complainant, if the names becomes available for registration at any given time, a Notification Service for any future attempt to register such a name. This service will be free of charge to the successful URS complainant.

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3.2.3 - TM Notifications

As noted above, .PARIS intends to extend the TM Claims services beyond the mandatory Sunrise period, and into the Ongoing Registration phase.


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4 - Technical Implementation details

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4.1 - Sunrise

The .PARIS Shared Registration System (SRS) fully supports the requirements of the above mentioned Sunrise policy and phases via features described in this section.

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4.1.1 - Sunrise EPP Extension Support

The system supports an EPP extension for submission of trademark data along with domain applications during launch phases such as Sunrise. Please refer to the answer to question 25 (Extensible Provisioning Protocol) for more information about the extension.

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4.1.2 - Trademark Clearinghouse Support

The .PARIS Shared Registration System (SRS) is prepared for accessing APIs of the Trademark Clearinghouse in order to validate the trademark information submitted by the registrar during Sunrise. In addition, the system also contains provisions to make use of the Trademark Clearinghouse APIs for providing a Trademark Claims Service as soon as .PARIS enters a period of general availability (see below for more information on this service).

Since Trademark Clearinghouse Service Providers have not been assigned by ICANN at the time of writing, the concrete technical specifications for these APIs are not yet known. While basic provisions have been made in the .PARIS Shared Registration System (SRS), the details will therefore have to be finalised once the Service Providers have been announced. As described below, respective developer resources are allocated to perform this task.

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4.1.3 - Support for Multiple Applications for the Same Domain Name

The .PARIS Shared Registration System (SRS) is designed to maintain multiple domain objects representing the same domain name at a given point in time. This feature is required to store multiple applications for the same name during launch phases like Sunrise.

To distinguish between the various applications of the name in the database (as well as in external APIs), each application is assigned a unique domain ID. These domain IDs are returned to registrars in the responses to domain applications via EPP and may subsequently be used, among other things, to inquire an applicationʹs review status. Also, review results are reported back to registrars via poll messages carrying the unique domain ID. Registrars can utilize the ID to clearly associate results with their applications.

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4.1.4 - Issue System

When manual review of Sunrise applications is required, this typically involves a specific support team workflow that, among other things, consists of
* storing application data in a database,
* making application data available to the support staff via a web interface back office tool (BO)
* assigning the task of reviewing applications for a certain domain name to a specific support member (for the purpose of clear responsibilities),
* having the application reviewed by the assigned person, who in the process may
* request additional information or documentation from the registrant,
* adds such documentation, as well as comments concerning the review, to the application,
* make a decision about the applicationʹs outcome or
* forward the task to a different support person with better insight or higher decision privileges (who may then make the final decision).

To support this workflow, the .PARIS Shared Registration System (SRS) is equipped with a built-in Issue System integrated in its Back-Office (BO) that offers registry personnel a convenient web interface to review domain name applications and approve or reject them accordingly.


= The Issue System =

* offers an SSL-secured web interface accessible by .PARIS registry staff only;
* allows searching for applications by various criteria (e.g. domain name or current workflow⁄approval state);
* allows a registry support person to find newly submitted or otherwise unassigned applications and take responsibility for them;
* offers a two-level review workflow that allows the delegation of preselection tasks to the first level support staff, after which a final decision - if still required - can be made by second level personnel;
* conveniently displays all application details, including registrant information, the supplied trademark information, as well as the results of the verification of that trademark data with the Trademark Clearinghouse;
* fully tracks and documents application status and history, allowing for a complete audit in case of legal inquiries and
* is fully integrated with the registry backend, i.e. it automatically notifies the SRS about the reviewersʹ decisions and immediately activates the respective domain in case of an approval. The Issue System also triggers the creation of appropriate EPP poll message in order to keep registrars informed about the outcome of their applications.

Such an Issue System has been used on many occasions including the launch of puntCATʹs elaborate multi-phase Sunrise period in 2006, as well as the relaxation of registration restrictions in the .FR TLD, and proved on these occasions to be an invaluable tool for efficiently organizing a TLD roll-out process.

The experience gathered from developing and operating the Issue System in that context helped to develop a second-generation version from which the .PARIS TLD will benefit.

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4.2 - Trademark Claims

As stated above, beyond the requirements set forth by ICANN in Specification 7 of the Registry Agreement, the .PARIS Registry will implement a continuous Trademark Claims Service to ensure that even after Sunrise, registrants are notified whenever their registered domain name potentially violates a trademark holderʹs rights as stored in the Trademark Clearinghouse. Likewise, the service makes the trademark holder aware of any domain registrations that potentially infringe on his trademarks registered with the Trademark Clearinghouse.

For the purpose of implementing this service, the .PARIS SRS will interconnect with the API provided by the Trademark Clearinghouse Service Provider once its details are developed and publicized by ICANN.

When a match of a registered name is found via the API provided by the Trademark Clearinghouse, the Trademark Claims Service is supposed to provide clear notice to a prospective registrant of the scope of the mark holderʹs rights. The registrant will in turn be required to provide statement that
* he received notification that the mark is included in the Trademark Clearinghouse,
* he received and understood the notice and
* his registration and use of the requested domain name will not infringe on the rights that are subject of the notice.

The registrant will be directed to the Trademark Clearinghouse Database information referenced in the Trademark Claims Notice to enhance understanding of the Trademark rights being claimed by the trademark holder. Also, if a domain name is registered in the Clearinghouse, the registry will, through an interface with the Clearinghouse, promptly notify the mark holders(s) of the registration after it becomes effective.


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5 - Resourcing Plan

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5.1 - Initial Implementation

Thanks to the experience and prior investment by its Registry Service Providers (AFNIC and CORE), the .PARIS Registry already supports the above mentioned functions and their support systems.

One aspect to be considered for resource planning is the registry systemʹs connection to the Trademark Clearinghouse; since the involved API isnʹt fully defined at the time of writing, some software development will have to be done in order to integrate the Clearinghouse into the sunrise workflow, as well as to incorporate it into the designated Trademark Claims Service. It is estimated that a Software Developer will be allocated to work 10 man.day on the development of this feature.

Staff that are already on hand will be assigned this work as soon as ICANN releases the relevant technical specifications.

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5.2 - Ongoing maintenance

The operation of the above mentioned mechanisms will be ensured by a team of highly experienced individuals with a distinct track record in handling dispute and managing TLDs in a manner that very significantly minimize conflict. These individuals have learned directly for launch management and dispute resolution around the .CAT and .FR TLDs.

This team will be composed of administrative and expert-level staff for respectively handling and advising on issues and cases.Their skill set will primarily be made of administrative and legal training, as well as domain name policy expertise.

Two phases need to be distinguished in terms of resourcing plan :

* for the first 6 month (duration of the sunrise period) we estimate that - exceptionally - 5 FTE will be needed, shared between the administrative and expert-level staff members, at a 5-to-2 ratio.

* after the finalization of the sunrise and for the longer term ongoing operations of the TLD, we estimate that the management of rights protection will require no more than 1.5 FTE at a 2-to-1 ratio with respect to the level of expertise (administrative vs. expert staff). These resources will be committed in part by the Registry Operator - The City of Paris - in line with its Staffing projection as detailed in Question 47 (Costs), and by the Registry Service Providers - AFNIC and CORE.

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