Publications

New Top Level Domain Names Announced by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

You may have heard that two new top-level domain names (TLDs), .info and .biz, will soon be available for public registration. Initial registrations will be made this summer and the new TLDs will go live in the fall of 2001. Any business or person will be able to register for .info. The .biz TLD will, however, be restricted for commercial or business purposes and is not intended for exclusively personal or non-commercial purposes.

These new TLDs will function just like familiar TLDs such as .edu, .gov, .org, .net, and .com. ICANN, the naming body, is adding .biz and .info to help the Internet handle increasing traffic. ICANN also expects to add .aero, .coop, .museum, and .name in the near future. Existing accredited registrar companies will handle the registration process for the new domains.

Trademark Holders: Stake Claims for .Biz Starting May 21, 2001

Beginning May 21 through July 9, Neulevel.com is offering an “intellectual property claim service” for the .biz TLD on its website at www.neulevel.com. With this service, for a fee, companies can submit trademark claim forms. Should another business attempt to register a .biz domain for a mark that was “claimed,” the applicant for registration will be notified of the trademark owner’s claim. If the applicant continues with the domain name application, the trademark claimant will be notified of the domain name application and can initiate an established administrative resolution process, administered through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to resolve the conflict.

To make a trademark claim, trademark holders may log into the Neulevel.com site (some domain name registrars are also offering to file the trademark claim forms through Neulevel.com for their customers, as a fee-based service), provide trademark and other identifying information, and pay a fee for each claim. Trademark claimants, like everyone else, must register their .biz domain names during the public registration process. The actual .biz registration process should begin in July and run through September, and the .biz domain names should become operational in October.

Pre-Register for .Info Starting in June

The .info domain name, for which Afilias.com (at www.afilias.com) is the approved registry, will be available for pre-registration by federally registered trademark holders from late June through late July. This will be an actual advance registration of the domain name, not “staking a claim” as trademark holders must do in the .biz procedure. Applicants must submit applications for .info domains through any accredited registrar (which will then submit the applications to Afilias.com). To ensure that pre-registrations comply with the applicable requirements, third parties may challenge early registrations through an established administrative resolution procedure, similar to that for the .biz TLD. Afilias will begin accepting applications (submitted via accredited registrars) for .info domain names from the general public within 15 days after conclusion of the pre-registration period.

TLDs Not Yet Approved

The Department of Commerce (“DoC”) has not yet approved the new TLDs. The DoC is expected to approve .biz and .info in the near future, however, and the claim process is in active operation for .biz (and the preregistration for .info will soon be).

Registration Granted Using Random Selection

Filing a trademark claim form or pre-registering a .biz or .info domain does not guarantee that the trademark claimant or applicant will be granted the domain.

In an effort to ensure that the registration process for both .biz and .info domains is fair and impartial, the registrations will be granted through a random selection process. All applications for the same domain name will be batched together, and the successful registrant will then be selected at random.

This document is intended to inform clients and friends about recent developments and does not constitute legal advice. If you have any questions or would like to discuss a particular situation, please contact Frank Duffin, at 203-498-4347 or [email protected].