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How Brand Owners Can Analyze the New gTLD Application List

by in Uncategorized

Earlier this morning, ICANN released information related to the 1,900+ applications for new gTLDs. See the full list here. It seems that many prognostications regarding certain applied for strings have borne out. There are a few surprises as well. Applications span the spectrum of .brands, generic terms, and geographic or ethnic designations.

This list will remain static for sometime, so there is no need to look for additions to the list. Identify applications that  contain your brand, or contain terms that are relevant to your brand or where you offer your services. Try to identify TLDs that could be used to form your brand name or that would form a logical suffix to your brand. I pulled a general list of categories below and will update this post in the next few days with further tips for assessing the potential impact of the new gTLD applications on your brand.

  • Examples of .brand applications include applications by Abbot Laboratories for .Abbot; Citi group for .Citi; Delta Airlines for .delta; and Fedex for .fedex. The .brand applications were popular amongst auto companies, as .jeep, .ferrari, and .fiat applications demonstrate.
  • In the geographic designation category, applications were submitted for .London, .Amsterdam, and .Alsace, among others.
  • Several applicants have targeted professions, as there are applications for .accountant, .accountants, .abogados, .law, and .lawyer. The most creative submission in the professional category would belong to Charleston Road Registry, for their .esq application that should be of interest to individual attorneys. See also .cpa for accountants.
  • Similar to applications for the above professionals, several applications sought to register .corp, .gmbh, .srl, .llc, and .llp among others.
  • Several applications were submitted for the .free, .deal, and .now, which may appeal to brands looking to create a promotions-focused domain.
  • On the brand protection front, consider locking up your brand’s domain in the .rip and .sucks TLDs. With respect to the .sucks application, consider issuing a comment during the forthcoming review period. One strategy might lead you to object to each of the three applications, however take the time to review each of the three applications to see if any offer particularly attractive brand protection programs and consider supporting that applicant over the others.