Earlier today, the Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) posted the list of 1930 applications by 1155 applicants hoping to operate 1409 different new generic top level domains (gTLDs). From a brief perusal of the Application Results page, it is apparent that several applicants will come away disappointed, since gTLDs such as .app, .cloud, .home and .shop have multiple applicants. Yet others will fail to meet ICANN’s technical or financial standards, or will run afoul of established legal rights.
For trademark owners, the time to review the list of applications and start becoming familiar with the procedures for comment and objection is now. For more information on what happens next and how trademark owners and others can raise objections to proposed new gTLDs, please visit our Top Level Domain Names page.
For more background information on the new gTLD program, check out the article What’s in a Name? by our Trademark Group.