Will the new Internet domains help or hinder small businesses? - The domain ‘.com’ is the online home to many different entities, from small businesses to global organisations, students and politicians. In short, anyone can set up a .com (or dotcom) domain and enjoy the prestige and benefits that the association with those three letters bring. However, it looks like the new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) could only be accessible to a far more exclusive group. The first batch of new gTLDs is currently under ... read more ...

The new gTLDs and the Trademark Clearinghouse: four tips for brand owners - 7 June 2013 The imminent launch of more than 1,400 new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) poses a major challenge to brand owners seeking to enforce and maintain control over the way their key trademarks appear in domain names. The domain ender ‘.com’ is the most widely used of the current gTLDs, but ‘.net’, ‘.org’ and ‘.edu’ gTLDs are also prevalent. All ... read more ...

First Private Auction for New Generic Top Level Domains Completed: 6 gTLDs … - On behalf of Innovative Auctions, I am very happy to announce that we've successfully completed the first private auction for generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs). Our auction resolved contention for 6 gTLDs: .club, .college, .luxury, .photography, .red, and .vote. Auction winners will pay a total of $9.01 million. All other participants will be paid from these funds in exchange for withdrawing their application. In ICANN's gTLD Applicant Guidebook, applicants for gTLD strings that are in contention ... read more ...

InterNetX’s Rapidly Growing DomainShop Expects New gTLDs to Push Their … - Many domain investors (including me) are able to operate their own domain registration and/or hosting businesses by  using white label solutions offered by some the biggest players in those spaces. They allow you to put your own brand on the robust ... read more ...

1st New gTLD’s Could Be Delegated As Soon As Aug 28th w/ Sunrise Ending … - As part of its Webinar today ICANN laid out a “best case scenario” for when the first new gTLD’s  might roll out. According to a time line laid out by ICANN the first new gTLD could be delegated to the root by as early as August 28, 2013 in which event the Sunrise notice for trademark and other rights holders for the new gTLD could start the following day August 29th. Based on that time line the Sunrise notice period would then run from August 29th-September 27th where trademark holders ... read more ...

The latest update on the new gTLD program - It has been a long time since we had any notable updates on the gTLD process to report.  However, after a slow start, the new gTLD program is now in full swing.  On March 22, 2013, ICANN released the first round of Initial Evaluations to the general public. This was the first major milestone of the gTLD program.  As a reminder, there are three possible outcomes of this Initial Evaluation:  1) Pass: the application was found to be consistent with the requirements in the Applicant Guidebook and ... read more ...

TLDH Raises Another $10 Million For New gTLD Auctions - Top Level Domain Holdings just annoucned they have raised an additional $10 million (approximately £6.6 million) conditionally raised from institutional and other investors and directors for new gTLD auctions and to be used for launch and marketing of .london. “”The Board of Top Level Domain Holdings Limited (AIM:TLDH.L), is pleased to announce that the Company has today conditionally placed 110,375,276 new ordinary shares (the “Ordinary Shares”) through N+1 Singer as broker to the ... read more ...

The Latest Update On The New gTLD Program - Terms Conditions and Privacy Statement Mondaq.com (the Website) is owned and managed by Mondaq Ltd and as a user you are granted a non-exclusive, revocable license to access the Website under its terms and conditions of use. Your use of the Website constitutes your agreement to the following terms and conditions of use. Mondaq Ltd may terminate your use of the Website if you are in breach of these terms and conditions or if Mondaq Ltd decides to terminate your license of use for whatever reason. Use ... read more ...

Forget .com: Get ready for .google and .apple - ICANN received 1,930 applications for new top-level domains.NEW YORK (CNNMoney)The list of proposed new domains includes .google, .apple, .nyc and .book. It's the first major expansion in more than a decade, and it's a complicated process -- one that has suffered through both technical delays and critics' concerns.The nonprofit group Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) formally approved the expansion of "generic top-level domains" (gTLDs) back in June 2011 . One year later ... read more ...

GoDaddy.com: Protecting IP from Cyber Squatters - HOLLYWOOD, Fla.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)-- “Cyber squatting and trademark infringement on the Internet are issues that have longed plagued IP attorneys, and I expect that will only increase in prominence. As ICANN rolls out new gTLDs in the coming years, companies are going to continue to struggle with IP protection.” IP Law Summit Spring 2011 HOLLYWOOD, Florida, March 24-26 Interview with: Martha Kimes, Senior Intellectual ... read more ...

.Joburg domain passed - The .Joburg generic top-level domain (gTLD) was passed without contention by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on Friday (31 May 2013). UniForum SA (NPC), trading as ZA Central Registry, applied for the .Joburg domain, which has now passed the “Initial Evaluation” phase. The Initial Evaluation phase includes background screening, string similarity, DNS stability, geographic names, registry services and the technical capabilities of the applicant. The ... read more ...

Will the new gTLD program impact your brand management strategy? - ICAAN’s new gTLD program, which includes launching new gTLDs such as ‘.accountant’ or ‘.health’, will have a significant impact on the way companies formulate brand management strategies going forward. How can companies pre-empt and utilise these upcoming developments in order to best protect their brands? What’s Happening? ICAAN, the organisation charged with ensuring the proper regulation of global domain name registrations, is set to introduce new generic top level domains (gTLDs) ... read more ...

New trademark headaches, but help is on the way - For brand owners that have often struggled to keep up with all the infringement and cybersquatting issues in the 22 existing generic top-level domain name registries, or “gTLDs”, like .com, .org, and .net, life is about to become even more challenging. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) planned expansion of gTLDs to potentially almost 2,000 in total has the potential to create major trademark enforcement headaches. In order to address some of those concerns and ... read more ...

Are You Ready for the Launch of New gTLDs? - It seems as though the inevitable is now upon us, and though there are many that have wished this day never come, the launch of the first new gTLD registries is approaching. Now whether the first new gTLD registry will launch within the next few months or be delayed due to Advice from world governments remains to be seen. However, most companies with which I have spoken desperately need any extra time to prepare for the launch of new gTLDs. So exactly, what should companies be doing to prepare ... read more ...

Alabama Moves Its Official Travel Site From AlabamaTravel.org/.Gov to Alabama … - Brad – the main reason why alternatives extensions never made it big is because the timing was off. The internet today is totally different from just 5 years ago. Social media, the explosion of new online ventures, apps, mobile devices and a lot of other factors have increased the popularity of alternative extensions. Lets alone the fact that huge corps now invest millions into marketing/branding of their new gTLDs. Like I said, far from all gTLD’s will ... read more ...

What you should know about the new gTLDs and the Trademark Clearinghouse - With all of the news about the new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), where do trademark owners even start? The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is currently reviewing over 1,000 applications for new generic top-level domains, such as “.food,” “.bank,” “.app,” “.movie,” “.wine,” etc. The first new gTLDs are expected to go live as early as June 2013. With many new Internet extensions to rival the current “.com,” “.net,” and “.org,” top level ... read more ...

Top Six gTLD Questions for Brands - Comment Print Article Email Permalink Written on May 28, 2013  Author Wolfe Domain  | Share Top Six gTLD Questions for Brands ADOTAS – With the first wave of generic top level domains (gTLDs) set to launch this summer, followed by a wave of brand-controlled domains in the fourth quarter of 2013 and into 2014, the new Internet is upon us. Jennifer Wolfe, president of Wolfe Domain, the leading gTLD digital brand strategy firm, today ... read more ...

What Do Trademark Owners Need To Know About The Trademark … - Terms Conditions and Privacy Statement Mondaq.com (the Website) is owned and managed by Mondaq Ltd and as a user you are granted a non-exclusive, revocable license to access the Website under its terms and conditions of use. Your use of the Website constitutes your agreement to the following terms and conditions of use. Mondaq Ltd may terminate your use of the Website if you are in breach of these terms and conditions or if Mondaq Ltd decides to terminate your license of use for whatever reason. Use ... read more ...

FairSearch Tells ICANN They Still Don’t Like Google Application For .Search - “I write to apprise ICANN that Google’s recent attempt to amend its .search Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) application is an effort to evade Google’s responsibilities to address objections through the dispute resolution process at the ICC International Centre for Expertise.” “Instead of responding directly to the areas of concern raised in objections to Google’s .search application that are on record, Google now seeks to alter its application. ” “The proposed amendments do not remedy ... read more ...

The Trade-mark Clearinghouse: protecting your brand in the expanding online … - The Trademark Clearinghouse (“TMCH”) is a newly-launched rights protection mechanism for brand owners to protect their trade-marks. The TMCH is part of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) program for handling new generic top-level domain (gTLD) registrations.  The new gTLD program A gTLD is simply a domain name extension - the last few letters of a URL. Common gTLDs are .com, .net and .org. Prior to the new gTLD program, launched in 2011, there were just ... read more ...

gTLDs’ Analytics and Big Data Impact on Brands’ Marketing Strategies - Tweet Buffer Big data is abuzz today when it comes to ongoing market strategy with companies like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Google, among others offering staple tools by selling ads, analytics, maps, discount strategies, and more to big brands. Using data to drive new products, content, and track consumers' behaviors as well as needs before they happen are ever-changing in response to new scientific, data-driven technologies and methodologies. ... read more ...

‘Governance Council’ Announced for .Health Top-Level Domain - Stakeholders in the Health Industry Invited to Advise on Internet Best Practices May 23, 2013 (MMD Newswire) -- Dot Health Limited, the Gibraltar-based organisation seeking to operate a new .Health top-level domain (gTLD), today announced the creation of a Governance Council that will allow the world health community to provide input on the .Health TLD. The Governance Council will be called upon to monitor, advise, and recommend best practices for the .Health gTLD. The announcement comes ... read more ...

5 ways brands should be using gTLDs - More than 70 percent of the entire internet domain name system we use every day is currently hosted in the .com space, making it one of the most familiar generic top-level domains (gTLDs) for companies and consumers, along with .net, .org, and a few others. In the next few months, however, the internet will expand, introducing a host of changes that will transform what has been a relative status quo in the area of top-level domains (TLDs). The International Corporation for Assigned ... read more ...

NABP’s .PHARMACY Proposal Passes Initial ICANN Evaluation - MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill., May 21, 2013 -- /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Reaching a critical milestone in the generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) approval process, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®) application to own and operate the .PHARMACY domain suffix has passed the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) initial evaluation. NABP intends to launch the .PHARMACY gTLD by the end of 2013, and will make the new domain available to legitimate online pharmacies ... read more ...