ICANN has released a Draft Report of an Independent Review of the Trademark Clearinghouse. Key findings include the fact that “across eligible trademark holders, fewer than 20 percent have used the Sunrise period to date.”

— Executive Summary / page 2: “The Trademark Clearinghouse (‘TMCH’) was established in March 2013 and serves as central repository for information to be authenticated, stored, and disseminated, pertaining to the rights of trademark holders in ICANN’s New Generic Top-Level Domain (“new gTLD”) program. Analysis Group was commissioned by ICANN to undertake an independent review of TMCH services based on the Governmental Advisory Committee (“GAC”) recommendation in May 2011 that a comprehensive, post- launch review be performed. The purpose of this review is not to make policy recommendations, but to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the TMCH services in conjunction with the specified areas for review proposed by the GAC. Specifically, our review is focused on the TMCH matching criteria, as well as the Claims Service and Sunrise Services (described in more detail below).”

— “[W]e find that although trademark holders expressed valuing the Sunrise period through questionnaire feedback and many trademark holders apply for Sunrise eligibility by submitting proof of use when recording their marks in the TMCH, many trademark holders do not utilize the period. This could be due to the expense of Sunrise registrations or because other protections of the TMCH services, such as the Claims Service, reduce the need for trademark holders to utilize Sunrise registrations.”