Also called Trademark Clearinghouse
TMCH, explained
ICANN chose Deloitte to verify marks and IBM to run the database; IBM's part passed to Kyndryl in 2021. A verified mark gets a signed mark data file that registries accept during sunrise. In the claims period, at least the first 90 days of general registration, anyone trying to register a matching name sees a claims notice and must acknowledge it, and if the registration goes ahead the mark holder is notified. The TMCH also offers ongoing notifications that continue after the claims period and cover close variations and legacy extensions such as .com.
For an investor, a claims notice is a reason to stop and check, not proof that a registration is unlawful, since many recorded marks are ordinary words used in other fields. But registering through a notice alerts the mark holder and weakens any later claim that you did not know about the mark. In .com no claims notice warns you, so the trademark search is your job.
Example. When the investor tried to register the name in a new gTLD, a TMCH claims notice warned that it matched a recorded trademark.
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