DOMAIN NAMES
CHERRY-PICKING YOUR GTLDS
Many brands don’t have the time to choose in which new gTLDs to register their names, but Rolf Larsen and Jeanette Söderlund Sause of Dot Global, a domain name registry, can help them wade through the list.
T
he first question brands should ask is: why should they use a new generic top-level domain (gTLD)? Aſter all,
the new extensions bring both great possibilities and risks. Tey promote innovation, offer domain name accuracy and provide new ways of communicating with, and reaching, customers.
As with every great change, however, there will be resistance and hesitation among certain groups of people. Tat’s only natural. When smartphones were first introduced, who knew that eventually we would struggle to imagine buying a mobile phone without all of the options, features and choices that the new technology has brought. New gTLDs represent the new internet landscape, and there is valuable virtual real estate to be found within it.
Another reason why the new gTLDs should not be ignored by brand owners is that the expansion of the domain name system brings an increased risk of cybersquatting and trademark infringement. Te misuse of a brand online can not only redirect internet traffic and customers to the wrong sites, but also risk harming the overall goodwill of the brand.
40 Trademarks & Brands Online A well thought-out brand strategy should
therefore involve a plan for which gTLDs should be registered in proactively, and which gTLDs should be handled with defensive mechanisms such as available dispute resolution procedures. When considering being proactive or defensive, brand owners must also take into account the likelihood of success in a potential dispute.
A common misconception is that owning a trademark is enough to prevail in a domain name dispute, but there’s much more to the equation than that—some of which can’t be managed or controlled by the trademark owner. In the cases where a dispute can’t be used to take over a domain name, brand owners might be faced with the much more expensive option of acquiring it straight from the domain name holder.
How to choose
Dividing the new gTLDs into categories helps to create a better overview in order to assess which ones are relevant for a specific brand or a company. Table 1 is an example of how such an evaluation could be made.
When viewing the new gTLDs this way, the task Volume 3, Issue 3
“DIVIDING THE NEW gTLDS INTO CATEGORIES HELPS TO CREATE A BETTER OVERVIEW IN ORDER TO ASSESS WHICH ONES ARE RELEVANT FOR A SPECIFIC BRAND OR A COMPANY.”
becomes far more manageable, as the number of relevant gTLDs for the brand is significantly reduced.
How to use
As mentioned earlier, there are several ways to use the new domain names, one of which
www.trademarksandbrandsonline.com
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