Brandholders (and the agencies that help them with branding work) are about to experience a new, “wild west”-style age of trademark clearance and protection issues with the release of new Top Level Domains (TLD’s) by ICANN, the U.S. registrar or internet domain names.

In light of its plans to release hundreds of new TLD’s in rapid succession, over 1,900 applications were submitted to ICANN for registration of new top level domain names (everything to the right of the “dot”) from organizations that desire to operate their own TLD registry.

Why is this something about which branding agencies need to care?

Let’s say you’re an agency with clients in the food service industry, for example. Imagine the economic impact of owning the “.food,” “.restaurant,” or “.eat” TLD’s to your clients – anyone in those industries will need to pay the new TLD owner to register domains ending in these top level terms. And the “protectors” of brands in these industries will potentially have acres more internet real estate to patrol to proactively register domains for their brands on the new TLD’s. This makes the stakes higher for Agency clients during the brand discovery and decision processes.

Bottom line: the trademark clearance and protection process for brands, especially new brands or brand extensions requires more time, money and attention. Enforcement of these brands once they’re adopted is critical as well.

Four things agencies need to know to help their clients manage these issues in light of the new ICANN TLD releases are:

Owners of Federal Trademark Registrations Have More Protection – With the flood of new domains, ICANN has partially answered the concerns of trademark owners by establishing the Trademark Clearinghouse. For owners of federally registered trademarks (and only federally registered trademarks), your registered mark can be deposited with the Clearinghouse prior to the launch of a new TLD, and you will then have access to a streamlined process to acquire the matching domain. (For example, DOMINOS® would have first dibs on www.dominos.pizza). Also, anyone seeking to register a domain that might interfere or conflict with your trademark rights will have to be checked through the Clearinghouse, which will also mediate domain disputes. But these opportunities are only available to federal trademark registrants. If your clients’ brands are important to them, encourage them to seek federal registrations immediately.

The Trademark Clearance Process Will Take More Time and Money – There will be more URL’s to wade through to find a good domain name for the client’s brand, obviously. However, the presence of more URL’s can mean a longer and more costly trademark clearance process. Start the process early with your client so that legal clearance doesn’t drag your launch date down.

But, Using the New Trademark Clearinghouse for Domains Could Save Time and Money – Amidst the concern among trademark lawyers about all the pitfalls that come with releasing dozens (let along hundreds) of new TLD’s, there is hope that the Clearinghouse will create opportunities in the future to more quickly resolve disputes related to domain names that conflict with existing trademarks, and, even better, create a system for avoiding the conflicts in the first place.

Trademark and Domain Monitoring and Enforcement Is Critical – The presence of thousands of new internet domain names will mean your agency, your clients, and your legal advisors will need to take a proactive, team approach to not only clearing new brands, but enforcing the trademarks that support them from infringers. The new protections are only as strong as the steps you take to use them to protect your valuable trademarks.