Have you registered your trademark in the Trademark Clearinghouse yet?

The new dots are right around the corner. Have you protected your brand and set yourself up to win the internet by registering your trademark with the Trademark Clearinghouse? If not, then you should do it now, because there are two major benefits to getting your trademark in early and both require your prompt registration:

1. You’ll be the ninja of protecting your brand. (Perhaps even the .ninja.)

Registering in the TMCH allows you to block other businesses and individuals from registering domain names that use your trademark. POW! So awesome. And, you don’t even have to hang out online all the time to do it—that’s what makes the TMCH so stealthy. You enter your trademarks into the database, and the Clearinghouse notifies you whenever someone registers a domain name using your registered brand. You can object, or if it seems like you can coexist, let it slide. It’s up to you. This protection lasts 90 days past the sunrise of any new dot. Which brings us to the second awesome benefit to registering your trademark.

2. You get into the exclusive sunrise party that only the coolest kids are invited to. 

We know you’ve been hearing all the talk about sunrise and how awesome it is, but did you know that sunrise is a party only trademark holders are invited to? That’s right. Only the cool kids get to register their trademark and brand domains during a sunrise offering. For example, if you owned a custom car and auto restoration shops called Shined Up and Blindin’ (registered trademark) and you had a custom line of 20 inch rims named Fat Betty Bedazzlers (a registered brand), then you can get in before anyone else to register FatBettyBedazzlers.CAR or ShinedUpandBlindin.AUTO—but you have to register your trademark in the Clearinghouse, first.

How to register your trademark:

So now that we’ve sold you on the sunrise and claims services offered by the TMCH, and we’ve convinced you to register right away so you’ll be ready to secure the new dots you want before anyone else (while making sure other entities aren’t infringing on your property), here’s a step-by-step rundown of how to do it:

1. Click here and follow the prompts.

That’s it. There are a couple of things to note before registering, though. In order to get into the TMCH, you have to own the legal rights to the trademark or brand you’ll be registering, which means your brand needs to either be a registered trademark, a court validated trademark, or a mark protected by a statute or treaty. It does cost money to register your trademark—$150 per trademark. For more details, read the TMCH fee structure here.

For more information about the Trademark Clearinghouse, check out our informational page explaining what the TMCH is, what it does for you, and how you can participate. To follow you favorite new dots and get notification when they enter sunrise, sign up for our free watcher service.