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2012/11/21
New gTLD Weekly Update (21 November 2012)

Webinars, webinars and more webinars

·         Applicant Update Webinars: We had our November Applicant Update webinar last Wednesday, 14 November and more questions than we had time to answer! If you missed it you can listen to it here:http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/webinars

·         Objection & Dispute Resolution Webinar: The Objection webinar previously scheduled for 21 November is being rescheduled. We will provide an update on the new date and time as soon as possible.

·         Still-to-come webinars: We will conduct a webinar on the upcoming Prioritization Draw on 5 December 2012.  Keep an eye on our Webinar page for more info.

Prioritization Draw

The comment period for Use of a Drawing for Prioritizing New gTLD Applications closed Friday, 9 November. Comments have been reviewed and a summary of the comments will be posted to the site soon.

The Prioritization Draw event is scheduled for Monday 17 December 2012 and will be held at the Hilton LAX. More details on this event are coming soon and can be found at newgtlds.icann.org/draw.

Clarifying Questions (CQ)

As stated in the recent Applicant Update Webinar, clarifying questions will be issued through TAS in January 2013. This delay will not impact the first publication of initial evaluation results (23 March 2013), or the timing to delegation that was communicated in Toronto.

Based on the CQ pilot we have made the following adjustments to CQs:

·         Time to respond to CQs has been extended from two weeks to four weeks.

·         The CQ language is being modified to be more specific about why the information provided was deficient and exactly what is needed to meet the requirements.

·         Character limits will be increased to ~7000 characters (7000 bytes) per question. And if more space is needed, you may submit your answer as an attachment.

CQs for geographic names will be issued on 26 November through the CSC. Applicants will have until the end of initial evaluation to respond to geographic CQs.

For more info on CQs please refer to the materials from the recent webinar, found on the Webinar page on the Microsite.

Program Statistics Page

We have updated the program statistics page to show the number of withdrawals and the number of change requests received and approved. We will update this page weekly.

Update from the Independent Objector

Professor Alain Pellet ,the Independent Objector, currently is reviewing the submitted new gTLD applications as well as associated public comments posted on the ICANN website. The purpose is to determine whether an objection to an applied-for string on the limited public interest and/or community grounds is deemed justified. As the IO is, in fact, an independent decision-maker in determining which applications might warrant an objection, it is important to note that a large number of comments will not necessarily result in the filing of an objection. For all requests, you can directly contact the IO at [email protected] or by using his contact form.

Trademark Clearinghouse

Progress has been made on the final design of the Trademark Clearinghouse. There were meetings last week with stakeholder representatives and ICANN staff to discuss the following topics:

·         The recent IPC/BC proposal for Improvements and Enhancements to the RPMs for new gTLDs [PDF, 68 KB], strictly focusing on implementation versus policy issues.

·         The business and contractual framework for the Clearinghouse.

·         Implementation architecture for Sunrise and Trademark Claims.

For an extensive summary of the meetings, read Fadi Chehade's blog on Trademark Clearinghouse Update.

 

 

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