ICANN Publishes Process to Qualify for Specification 13 to the New gTLD Registry Agreement

Today, ICANN publishes the process to qualify for Specification 13 to the New gTLD Registry Agreement. This comes on the heels of the 26 March 2014 resolution by the New gTLD Program Committee ("NGPC") of the ICANN Board approving the new Specification.

The current form of Specification 13 as approved by the NGPC can be found here [PDF, 80 KB].

The NGPC also approved the possible incorporation of an additional clause into Specification 13, with implementation to take effect no earlier than May 12, 2014, to provide the GNSO Council an opportunity to advise ICANN regarding Policy Recommendation 19 on the Introduction of New Generic Top Level Domains. If the additional clause is incorporated, then Specification 13 would be in the form found here [PDF, 80 KB].

If, as a result of GNSO Council advice or otherwise, Specification 13 is further modified, an applicant for a TLD that has been determined by ICANN to qualify as a .Brand TLD will be offered the opportunity to execute an amendment incorporating such modified Specification 13 as part of the Registry Agreement.

Specification 13 was drafted with input from the community to provide .Brand TLDs certain modifications to the New gTLD Registry Agreement. In order to have Specification 13 incorporated into the New gTLD Registry Agreement, applying entities must meet the following requirements:

The TLD string is identical to the textual elements protectable under applicable law, of a registered trademark valid under applicable law;
Only Registry Operator, its Affiliates or Trademark Licensees are registrants of domain names in the TLD and control the DNS records associated with domain names at any level in the TLD;
The TLD is not a Generic String TLD (as defined in Specification 11);
Registry Operator has provided ICANN with an accurate and complete copy of such trademark registration.

Applications for Specification 13 will be posted for review and comment by the community. Any comments submitted within 30 days of the posting of the application will be considered by ICANN in making a determination regarding the application. ICANN encourages the community to participate in ICANN's processes and provide comments.