Trademark Clearinghouse
ICANN's central trademark database powering Sunrise pre-registration and brand claims in new gTLDs.
- glossary
The Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) is ICANN's centralized database of verified trademark records, and it serves as the engine behind two brand-protection mechanisms in new gTLD launches: the Sunrise period and Claims notifications. During a Sunrise period — which every new gTLD must offer before opening general registration — only trademark holders whose marks are recorded in the TMCH may register the matching domain, giving brands a head start ahead of the public rush. After Sunrise opens to Claims, the TMCH triggers an alert whenever anyone attempts to register a domain that matches a recorded mark, warning the registrant that a trademark exists. The TMCH is operated by IBM and Deloitte under ICANN contract, and trademark owners must submit authenticated documentation to have their marks listed. For domain investors and brand teams operating in the broader registry ecosystem, TMCH participation is the primary lever for defending a brand during the critical early window of a new extension's life.
Related keywords
- TMCH
- Trademark Clearinghouse
- Sunrise period
- brand protection
- new gTLD
Contributors
Namefi is a collective of engineers, designers, and operators who obsess over building tools that make managing your onchain domain names effortless.
Victor Zhou is a technology founder and standards editor focused on digital identity and trust. He founded Namefi, edits Ethereum Improvement Proposals, and previously led smart-contract architecture work at Google Labs.
His work sits at the intersection of naming, ownership, and the systems people use to establish identity online. That perspective makes him especially interested in the way names move between personal meaning, public recognition, and digital infrastructure.
For Namefi, Victor edits and writes about domains as durable digital identity: how names become ownable onchain assets, how tokenization changes custody and trust, and what naming can learn from the systems people use to establish identity online.