• • About.kyoto
• • Purpose of .kyoto
• • Acquisition method
  • Founders Program
  • Trademark Clearinghouse
    （TMCH）
  • Character strings prohibited from registration
• • Terms of use

Trademark Clearinghouse（TMCH）

TMCH（Trademark Clearinghouse）

TMCH is an information database enabling trademark holders to register their trademarks. It is a means of protecting the intellectual property of new gTLDs approved by ICANN.

Trademark registration with TMCH results in the issuance of an SMD file needed at application time for Sunrise 1 (priority registration for trademark holders). This code can be used for all new gTLDs. Thus, with respect to new gTLDs added after registration, it affords the opportunity during the Sunrise 1 period—before general registration—to register domain names that coincide perfectly with trademarks.

After the fixed Sunrise 1 period, applicants will still be warned against trademark rights infringement when their applications to register a domain name infringes on a trademark registered with TMCH.

Even if a domain name is not registered within the Sunrise 1 period, a trademark holder will be notified when a domain name corresponding to the trademark is registered by a third party in the general registration period.

It is necessary to go through the Registrar to deal with the process of TMCH trademark registration, which will take about two weeks after filing an application.

Applicable trademarks

• Japan- or foreign-registered trademarks (U.S., EU and other nations)

Non-applicable trademarks

• Figure trademarks without character strings
• Trademarks in the application process
• Trademarks registered by city, province, prefecture, or region
• International trademark applications using the Madrid system
  (Excluding cases in which basic trademarks are valid nationwide)
• Registered trademarks deemed void, canceled, objectionable, or in the process of being revised
• Trademarks that include the mixing of Japanese and Roman characters (For example, “京都kcg”)

Note: The Madrid system is an international system for registering trademarks under the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It simplifies procedures for trademark registration in multiple regions.

Applicable character strings

A trademark character string must coincide perfectly with the domain name character string applied for with TMCH.

In the following cases, there need not be a perfect match to file an application.