The Sunrise period for .berlin commenced on 14 February to allow trademark holders to register domains for the German capitalâs new gTLD. The 30-day Sunrise phase takes place before general availability that will allow Berliners to register their desired domain.
The requirement for preferential registration during the Sunrise phase is that brand owners register their trademark in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). This central trademark database was established for the protection of brands under new gTLDs. Information about the TMCH and a list of service providers who perform the service can be found at www.trademark-clearinghouse.com.
Another advantage of the TMCH is that brand owners are informed, if in the first three months after launch of .berlin a third party registers a brand identical to their domain names. More information on .berlin can be found at www.nic.berlin.