If you own a brand, June 13th may be an important date to remember

According to @domainincite, ICANN will release the list of over 1900 applications for the new gTLD program at a press conference that will be webcasted from London on June 13, 2012 at 13:00 GMT.  The process of getting to the June 13th reveal date has had its share of hiccups, and more are sure to come. If you are a brand owner who has struggled to understand the new gTLD application process or do not understand how process may affect your brand, the June 13th reveal date should provide a little more clarity.

While ICANN imposed some strong initial barriers to protect brand owners from a glut of cybersquatters (see, $185,000 application fee)and other bad actors (see, comment & objection period), brand owners should monitor the list of applications that are revealed on June 13th.  It has been widely reported that over 1900 applications have been received by ICANN during this initial period. It is very likely that there will be several parties vying for the same gTLD. News has leaked that there are at least three parties applying for the .app gTLD (read here, via@domainincite).  One newly formed firm called Donuts has applied for 307 gTLDs, mostly for generic, dictionary words (please read here, again via @domainincite).  The application fees alone constitute an investment exceeding $56 million.

If you are a brand owner who has observed the gTLD process from the sidelines, it may be very well worth your time to task a small team to parse through the gTLD applications that are revealed on June 13th.  Brands that consist of generic terms should be most interested in this process. In addition to analyzing the reveal list for your own brand name, consider also looking for gTLDs that include words that describe the products or services your firm offers; ones that could be applied as a suffix or other modifier to your brand; and for applications that have been filed by competitors or others in related industries.

After parsing through this initial list, consider reviewing the portions of relevant applications that have been (or will be shortly after June 13th) made public.  Each application consists of a questionnaire that contains both public and private sections.  Application questions included requests for information regarding the proposed owners and managers of the domain; technical information to demonstrate the applicant’s capability in operating a domain; and financial information about the applicant, among others.  Brand owners should focus on statements in the application that describe the goal of the application. Who is the applicant seeking to target?

The initial application portal has closed. If a brand who sat out this first round of new top level domains wishes to obtain its own .brand, the application window will not reopen for at least another year, maybe more. In the meantime, once ICANN reveals the list of applied for gTLDs, start planning whether to oppose or comment on any of the pending applications.