In a recent letter to Dr. Stephen Crocker, the Chairman of ICANN’s Board of Directors, Lawrence Strickling recognized the progress that ICANN has made with regard to law enforcement and contract compliance in the New gTLD Program.

Strickling, in his capacity as Administrator for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the U.S. Department of Commerce, also expressed concern on behalf of the NTIA, “regarding the limited progress of the Trademark Clearinghouse and the Uniform Rapid Suspension system (URS).”

The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) applauds Strickling for sending this letter and is grateful for both Strickling’s and the NTIA’s timely communication with ICANN leadership regarding businesses’ concerns about adequate trademark protection in new gTLDs. CADNA is particularly supportive of Strickling’s suggestion that calls for ICANN to “explore” a range of cost-reduction options regarding defensive registrations and safeguards.

As CADNA outlined in its Trademark Block Letter to Strickling last month, best practices for brand protection continue to emerge and could be adopted by ICANN in order to promote, as Strickling explains at the conclusion of his letter, “ the continued growth and innovation of the Internet.”