Frank Domains help Businesses wanting to protect their trademark
Businesses have been given the opportunity to protect their trademarks before the new ‘generic Top-Level Domains’ (gTLDs) go on sale. Trademarks can be submitted through Frank Domains, gTLD agent which gives businesses the opportunity to fully protect their trademark.
Last week the first of the 1000 new ‘generic Top-Level Domains’ (gTLDs) were released by ICANN, the domain regulatory body. These are commonly referred to as ‘URLs’ or ‘Domain Suffixes’; gTLDs refer to the ending e.g. ‘.com’.
The release of certain domains will be added each week until all 1000 are live. This is expected to take 12-18 months, although it could take up to three years. Once live, the domains go through a stringent registration cycle; the ‘Sunrise Period’ is the 60 day period after a domain is released in which ONLY trademark holders can purchase specific domains. The ‘Landrush Period’ follows this and allows general domain registration at a premium price; the most popular names will be auctioned off. The ‘General Availability’ period takes place after the Landrush; in this period domains will fall to their normal price and be available for general registration.
ICANN (the organisation that governs the address system of the internet) has created a system called The Trademark Clearing House (TMCH), which will verify trademarks and give protection to Trademark owners through a gTLD agent. At this stage only brands with a registered trademark can formally protect their brand in advance; this is because only trademarked businesses have a legal claim to the name.
Frank Domains advise businesses WITH a Trademark to do the following:
1. Contact Frank Domains and submit their Trademark for any geographical region.
2. Choose how long they want the Trademark to be covered. Frank Domains would recommend a minimum of 2 years as the roll-out time is uncertain.
3. Pay a normal, non refundable administration charge, which will pay for an assessment by the expert team at Deloitte to make sure it is valid. Once approved, the trademark will be given a label with up to 10 variations of the brand name to make sure that it is protected.
4. A confirmation file will be sent which will also be copied to your agent (Frank Domains) enabling trademarked domains to be purchased in any launch phase. The added benefit for businesses is that those registered with the TMCH will also be given first refusal and be able to veto purchases by other companies. It will also help avoid lengthy, expensive court battles to obtain names, for a nominal one-off fee.
Companies without a trademark or international equivalent have no legal claim to their name can still try and protect relevant domains.
Frank Domains advise businesses WITHOUT a trademark to do the following:
As an agent, Frank Domains is offering a pre-registration service for the domains via their website. This does not guarantee that you will get the domain you want, but if you’re pre-registered, they will be able to put in a request as soon as the relevant Landrush period starts, giving businesses without a trademark the chance of winning a chosen domain. It is useful to spend time working out which new extension will suit the business so that they are identified in advance ready for the launch.
Frank Domains has produced a white paper on the new gTLDs and how they will affect every brand which is free to download at http://www.frankdomains.com/pdf/frank-domains-tmch-white-paper.pdf
For more information on Frank Domains and purchasing gTLDs go to www.frankdomains.com