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.”